As If By Magic

"Shit," Dylan whispered, his eyes slightly widening.

"What?" Eggsy asked, immediately looking towards Linc to make sure she wasn't in trouble. But once he saw who she was with - a pair of very ominous looking twins - he also cursed, "Oh, fuck."

"Excuse me?"

"Twins."

There was a pause and Eggsy looked over to Dylan, who was staring at him in surprise.

"Holy shit..."

He stayed silent, watching it slowly dawn on the man's face.

"But... when? How did I not know?" Roosevelt angry whispered.

"Instead'a that, let's focus on Linc now, right? We need to be prepared as back-up," Eggsy said, looking over at her again.

He only saw the Buyer with his arm around her, introducing her to the twins, both large in build, with heads shaved to show matching swirling ink on their necks.

"She got the Buyer and the Seller. Seller's, it seems."

"She's not alone. That sleazebag won't have the chance," Eggsy said mistakenly saying the last part out loud.

Dylan froze and turned his head to stare at him. Eggsy cleared his throat.

"Is there something you'd like to tell me-"

"Nope. Nada."

"Remember what I said about hurting her."

Eggsy nodded but then faltered, turning back to Dylan.

"Wait, if you're saying that then you think-"

"I didn't say or think anything. Be on alert, the doors are open."

Ana was barely holding it in. She couldn't stop staring at the twins, the Page's, they'd introduced themselves as. She caught one of them staring at her in concern and blabbered about being entranced by their tattoos. They both grinned at that, and Kyle made a sexist joke about her being too flighty.

She faked a smile at that, and made some conversation about one of the portraits she saw that had following eyes, "Much better work than in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, don't you think?"

Surprisingly, one of the Page brothers was a fan of Disneyland and they started talking about the rides when the doors opened. Ana saw some great seats immediately and started walking towards them, about to start a spiel that she had researched what the best seats were but was instead dragged by the wrist by Kyle to the last row.

She insited to sit in the aisle. She was an agent first, woman second. But an opportunity to be here was one in a million, so she would enjoy everything she could in the moments she could. And that meant having a tolerable seat to a first-rate magic show that elite members of Los Angeles society paid upwards of $700 a year for.

Since the show hadn't started yet - she was an agent.

She fidgeted with her purse as thought looking for something but seemed to change her mind and brought out one of the trackers between her fingers as she turned to give Kyle a feel, sticking her nose in his neck and trying not to gag on his cologne as she moved her hand across his chest and planted the tracker on his wallet while pickpocketing his cell phone all in the same move.

Kyle gave a hum of appreciation, but softly pushed her away by adjusting in his seat and turning towards the Page brothers, his voice barely a whisper as he talked to them. She could listen in, but knew that the tracker she had just planted also included an audio transmission.

She checked her nails, acting bored, but took the chance to glance around. Kyle's security was standing in the back with the ushers, but she noticed two other men, dressed to the nines and sitting still in their seats in the next isle and a few rows ahead. What she figured not many other people would notice was their compact ear pieces, looking almost like hearing aids.

The Page brothers brought security as well, just as she had predicted.

The show started, and it took only a few minutes for Ana to shake off the fact she had the worst seat in the house to an amazing show. The opener did spectacular rope tricks, and the main magician was also a comedian, intertwining his tricks with classic zingers. After the show ended Ana was dragged back to the bar by Kyle, the Page brothers following. She ordered a Rum and Coke and took a few sips before excusing herself to the bathroom, whispering to Kyle dramatically that she thought she was a bit drunk.

She poured her drink down the sink as soon as she knew she was alone in the restroom. She couldn't even look at herself in the mirror. Seeing the Page brothers was hard enough, she didn't need to see herself alone, without Natalia.

The door suddenly opened and she turned, an excuse ready that she needed to be left alone. When she saw Dylan she let out a small hum and fell into his arms.

He hugged her tightly.

"Are you okay," he said as a statement, not a question. He knew what she was going through.

"I don't know."

"Jesus, when I saw them… "

"I know."

"You were brilliant. I don't know anyone who would've stuck through that."

"I had to."

"I know."

Ana took a deep breath and pulled back, crooking her finger to dab at her eyes, catching her tears before they fell.

"I planted the tracker in his wallet, it will never leave him," she said, sniffing through her nose as she went to her purse and brought out Kyle's phone. She brought out the small gadget Tech had given her before the mission, and plugged it in. It looked like a small charging cord, but as soon as she plugged it in the screen went dark and code started flitting across the screen.

"Damn, you're good."

"Don't you forget it," she said, giving Dylan a weak smile.

He shook his head, moving a hand over his mouth to stifle a smile.

"Eggy's going crazy."

She raised an eyebrow.

"How so?"

"Oh, please. We both know he'd rather be the one feeling you up for the mission. But then he also freaked out when he saw the brothers. When the hell were you gonna tell me he knew?"

"Right time never came up, but yeah," she let out a deep sigh, "he knows."

"For now I'll pretend not to be insulted you didn't tell me... but how? When?"

"At my old house after we were followed. He found pictures I'd hidden."

"You told me it was just a normal fight between you two - sparring that turned serious!"

"It was the opposite. It was fight. He used my name against me, tried to guilt me for not telling him. First time I felt that he wasn't holding back, if that makes any sense."

"He was most likely hurt; you guys have grown close, he probably thought your name was something you'd tell him."

"I was going to tell him!" she snapped, but then shook her head and closed her eyes to evade Dylan's knowing gaze. "We have been... what you said-"

"You can't even say it-"

"I was going to tell him! On my own damn time - but he took that away from me, and shoved the fact in my face!" she opened her eyes, her buried fury rising to the surface, "And he thought he'd get away with it?!"

"Stubborn, competitive, doesn't follow the rules, remind you of anyone?"

She let out a forced laugh, her anger simmering down as she rolled her eyes and checked the phone. She needed to push everything aside and get back to the mission on hand.

The screen was blinking green, and she detached the cord. It went back to the lock screen, a simple blue ombre wallpaper showing. She brought up the camera without needing to unlock it - a perk in the new iOS - and turned it to selfie mode, raising the camera to show a good angle of her face and cleavage as she gave a subtle pout with bedroom eyes before taking a few pictures.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"He's been without his phone for more than a few minutes - he's noticed it's gone. I'll say I took it to give him a surprise."

Dylan gave her arm a squeeze before quickly leaving. She composed herself, still avoiding her own gaze in the mirror as she counted to ten and then also left the bathroom, winding around the crowd to find Kyle.

He was with the Page brothers, and with a quick glance around the room she spotted the three men they'd brought as security; one sitting at the bar nursing a drink, one leaning against the far wall pretending to be on his cell phone, and the other chatting with a drunk woman but obviously ignoring her advances.

She sidled up to Kyle, slipping his phone in his pocket and whispering in his ear he was expecting a surprise. He turned to her and raised an eyebrow, but his mischievous grin told her he didn't suspect anything beyond what she told him.

The night dragged on from there. They all had more drinks, Ana slipping away at the right times to exchange them for just sodas, but acting as though each drink was affecting her. She was boisterous at each of the smaller shows they attended, one of them in the basement performed by the bartender who was serving drinks. She gasped and laughed and stumbled, giving Kyle and excuse to touch her even more.

She didn't even know what time it was when Kyle turned to her and theatrically sighed, looking guilty.

"Dear, I'm sorry to have to do this, but I need to talk to the brothers alone. I hope you understand."

She frowned, putting on the act.

"I thought we were going to see another show," she said, "let the magic live."

He traced her jaw with a finger and she refrained from gagging.

"I'll see a thousand more shows with you, but I've got to talk to them privately."

She shrugged.

"Fine, I'll go hang out with Irma. But you'll have to make it up to me later," she said, giving him a grin before she turned on her heel and walked away slowly.

She turned the corner and found herself at a set of stairs. She sighed and went up, finding herself at the dining room floor. She walked the floor, people watching as she tried to find a staircase to the main floor. She eventually did, going through another corridor and chose the right set of stairs with help from an employee who motioned her head to the side with arms full of plates.

She walked down the steps, getting a good view of the room as she descended. Roosevelt and Galahad were nowhere to be found - most likely trailing the Page brothers. The crowd was still strong - a mix of obnoxious drunks laughing loudly and taking up room along with intimate groups and couples, keeping to themselves and enjoying the place as she was.

As she approached Irma, the ghost was finishing the final chorus of a Foo Fighters song. She held onto her plain Coca Cola with a cherry as she approached the piano, listening to the final notes as she thought of what to ask her to play.

The song finished and the room fell silent, the crowd becoming the new sound.

"Irma, play Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears for Fears."

She heard a laugh from someone in the room but ignored it, staring at the keys of the piano.

It took a moment longer than usual for the ghost and Ana blinked, both horrified yet honored and even confused that she might have stumped the infamous Irma with such a classic - but then it started playing the opening notes. She grinned and closed her eyes, moving her head to the beat.

She felt someone lightly touch her hand before grasping it, and turned to see Eggsy pulling her along into a hidden hall before she could even compute what he was doing.

"What are you doing?" she whispered when they stopped, checking the ends of the hall. One was at a dead end with two doors, both likely for employees - the other end was open to the main room, the sounds of the crowd sightly muffled.

"What are you doin'?"

"Excuse me? We've located and identified the Buyer and the Sellers, thank you very much-"

"While throwin' our mission haywire! We were only to observe until the right moment!"

"I've given us the right moment!"

"Please enlighten me."

"With his guard down, the Buyer led me – therefore us – to the Sellers. I planted my trackers on the Buyer and I'm sure you and Roosevelt planted on the Sellers. I'd say that's a fucking right moment."

"At the cost of ya dignity? Your dream?"

She faltered at that.

"What-"

"You're havin' ta act drunk in these magic shows you've been wantin' to see for years, while he feels you up... He had ya in the last row for fuck's sake!"

She blinked but then shook her head.

"That doesn't mean anything. We're on a mission. What are you doing?"

Eggsy shook his head, raising a hand to run through his hair.

"You…"

"What?!" she whisper-shouted, "I'm what?!"

"Ya obviously distressed, Ana!"

She took a step back at her name on his lips.

He stood still, staring back at her; they both knew what him saying that name meant.

She took in a deep breath and shook her head.

"I may or may not be distressed, but that gives you no right to doubt my ability..." she started, faltering when Eggsy's gaze flitted away to look over her shoulder, "What's wrong-" she started, turning her head.

Eggsy grabbed her chin and forced her head to turn back before he planted his lips on hers. She inhaled in surprise, her eyes automatically closing as they both stood still... that is until a quiet dam broke and they were kissing. His lips moved on hers and she reciprocated, letting out a soft hum as she raised a hand to rest on his cheek.

It was demure – just their lips touching and retracting, touching and retracting… but she felt goose bumps and a large shiver make its way throughout her body, turning her knees weak. She pulled back, the hand on his cheek sliding down to his chest to hold him back – more-so to hold herself back.

He stared at her, his eyes dark, looking just as shaken as she felt from the kiss when someone dramatically cleared their throat behind them.

She turned her head to see Kyle, looking at them with a raised brow and an almost evil grin on his face.

"Gotta say, yours and mine definitions of 'hanging with Irma' are drastically different."

She took a step away, her knees still shaky, and turned towards Kyle.

"He tried to-"

Kyle raised his hand, holding a slim handgun with a suppressor as he motioned for her to stay silent.

Both she and Eggsy tensed up; she felt Eggsy move to stand beside her, his hand coming up to her stomach as he lightly pushed her back, but Kyle aimed the gun and they both froze.

"Don't try to lie to me any more. As soon as I saw you with him earlier tonight I knew something was up," he said sternly, "But I gotta say, you need a goddamn Golden Globe for tonight's performance. Top notch, I gotta say."

There was a beat of silence.

"So… not an Oscar?" Ana said, her instinct winning over her nerves.

"Sorry, mate, but do I know ya?" Eggsy said.

Kyle laughed and shook his head, waving the gun around with his motions. Ana used his moments of distraction to reach under the hem of her dress and grab her butterfly knife from her thigh holster, holding it closed and hidden in her hand.

"Gotta say, that hurts."

There was a beat of silence, and Eggsy took a step forward in front of Ana to shield her. She reached up and grabbed the back of his jacket, releasing the latch on her butterfly knife in her other hand.

"That doesn't tell me if I'm supposed ta-"

"My brother was Charlie Winghurt."

Another beat of silence.

"Oh," Eggsy said softly.

Kyle gave a smile, aiming the gun at them.

"Yeah. Oh."

Ana gripped Eggy's jacket tighter with one hand, and in her other she twitched her wrist, using the flick opening method to bring the blade out.

"So it seems the both of you were using me. I should be the upset party here," Ana said over Eggy's shoulder.

Kyle laughed again, taking a step forward, which was just what she wanted.

"I said you were Golden Globe worthy, babe, not Oscar worthy."

"What in the bloody hell does that even mean?!" Eggsy said, but Ana didn't hear it as she saw Kyle's arm tense, meaning his finger was about to pull on the trigger. She pulled the hand that was holding Eggsy's suit to tug him aside as she raised her knife and threw it.

There was a shout, a small suppressed pop, and a clatter.

Instead of what protocol - of what years of training had taught her - Ana took a beat and looked at Eggsy - instead of the target to make sure she had made her mark. She met his equally surprised gaze. She took in a breath, immediately realizing her mistake.

"Get the gun," Ana whispered as she rushed towards Kyle. Her butterfly knife had hit the bottom of his hand, barely an inch from the nerve connecting to the wrist. She reached forward and clamped her hand over Kyle's mouth before he could shout.

"You got lucky, gotta admit I was going for the nerve," she said softly before drawing her arm back and delivering a punch to his temple to knock him out, his body falling limp.

She heard Eggsy's steps come in behind her, but he stayed silent.

Ana checked the entrance to the hall, but the dampened sound of the crowd was still going strong, so they were safe – for now.

She grabbed her knife, wiping the blood off on Kyle's suit before twitching her wrist to close it and reaching under her dress to put it back in its holster.

"You really love that thing, eh?"

"Huh?" she asked as she stood up, turning towards him but then looking away when she noticed he was too close for comfort.

"That's the same knife you used on me in New York… you even went back for it then, riskin' yourself."

She shook her head at the fact he'd noticed such a detail, and looked towards the two doors on the other side of the hall that she had noticed before.

"Let's stuff him down the hall, one of those rooms has to be a supply closet or something."

Eggsy nodded but fidgeted with his watch and then turned his wrist before pressing a button. A small dart came out and hit Kyle's chest.

Ana turned to him, raising an eyebrow.

"Just a precaution," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Supply closet, now."

Ana held her shoes in her hand as the three of them walked through the main doors to headquarters.

"I'm in need of a nightcap, anyone care to join?" Dylan asked as he fidgeted with his tie, his suit jacket slung over his shoulder.

Ana let out a yawn she'd been fighting as she shook her head.

"I'm ready to fall asleep."

Eggsy nodded.

"Same, mate. 'Lotta excitement for just a recon mission."

Dylan rolled his eyes.

"Says the Agent who couldn't be bothered to recognize a past target."

"Oy! His brother was the past target, thank ya very much!" he proclaimed as Dylan and Ana laughed.

After stuffing Kyle in what Ana had correctly presumed was a supply closet, Ana found Dylan as Eggsy contacted Headquarters. Together Eggsy and Dylan took down Kyle's security detail, leaving them in the bathroom on the bottom floor. Ana played coy with the Page brothers, acting confused as to where Kyle had left, leaving room for Eggsy to tranq them with his fancy watch from behind. The three of them waited until they oversaw Dylan, the Page brothers and their security details escorted out by Kingsman tech, all undercover as concerned friends leading their barely able to walk or talk buddies out of the Castle.

Even though it all seemed to happen at once, it was all coordinated at different times so as not arouse suspicion - and it worked. The three of them walked out into the brisk night air without a hitch and climbed into the taxi waiting for them half an hour before last call.

A successful mission, to say the least.

"Whatever," Dylan said, giving Ana a second look before turning right at the split in the hall they'd reached. He was off to probably check in his weapons and tech before taking a cab home.

Ana and Eggsy fell into silence as they took the other hall towards the elevator. They rode it in silence, Ana even startling at the ding as the doors opened to the floor her room was on.

She turned to say goodnight but Eggsy raised an arm to motion for her to go first, and she raised an eyebrow at him as she walked forward, her heart jumping in her chest when she realized he was walking her to her room.

They slowed their steps as the door to her 'cell' coming into view.

She figured Apollo would be fast asleep in his little doggy bed by now – or, more likely, at home on top of her pillow. He never was one for dog beds. Wherever she was – he was.

"I know ya a closed book… no, more like a book with a lock… but are ya ever gonna tell me 'bout that knife?" Eggsy asked, his usual accent in full swing.

She turned to face him, raising an eyebrow.

"Gonna tell me about that new accent tonight?"

He shook his head, the corners of his mouth twitching as he shook his head.

"Ya know which knife - in New York I saw ya go back for it. What does it mean to ya?"

She frowned at the fact she hadn't deterred him, but tried again.

"Is it something you use to seem more... Bond like? It's crap, by the way. Your true accent still seeps through at times. Plus, it'd be more... mysterious, if you used your natural tone."

He only stared at her, unfazed. She sighed, blowing a stray hair away from her eyes.

"It's a... plausible weapon to have, like your fake accent," she answered, "There's nothing to it."

She was cut off short when he took a step closer and she took one back in response, her back hitting the door to her room.

"Got another wall of yours to tear down I see."

She frowned even deeper.

"What the fuck does that even mean-"

He cut her off with his lips. Something she wasn't expecting but at the same time didn't reject.

It was as if they were continuing from the hall at the Magic Castle. Two pairs of lips who'd been wanting to meet for ages were finally meeting. There was no fumbling, no awkwardness.

He pushed her harder against the door, their bodies aligning as they kissed, his hands moving from her shoulder to her face to tilt her head to the right spot, her arms moving to his shirt to hold on tight for the ride.

From zero to sixty… then back to thirty they went, the hungry kisses turning lazy. It went to zero when Eggsy finally pulled back, the both of them out of breath as he rested his forehead against hers.

She opened her eyes, feeling his breath on her face, his body against hers… and she reacted.

Her hands drew back from his shirt and she and pushed him away.

He stumbled back, just as surprised as she was, their heavy breathing the only sound in the hall.

"Nope," she said sharply, "No, no, no, no, no."

He took a step forward but she shook her head and stepped to the side away from him.

Away from temptation.

"We can't-"

"There's nothing to 'can't'!" she shouted, catching her breath. She shook her head again.

"What-"

"We're ignoring this, alright?"

"Like hell, ya kissed me first-" he started and she forced a laugh.

"You kissed me! As a fucking distraction-"

"And then ya kissed me back."

She threw her hands up in the air, shaking her head.

"First the ego, and now you're delusional-" she muttered but Eggsy raised his voice.

"You looked at me first!"

She stopped, still breathing heavily, refraining from licking her lips.

He moved in close and she flattened herself against her door, keeping her hands in fists beside her.

"You threw the knife, the gun went off, and ya looked at me first," he whispered the last part.

She faltered.

She had looked at him first. It was something she'd probably go over in her head over and over again. It was what protocol and training told her not to do - and yet she did it anyway.

And she also felt stupid for thinking that he wasn't going to call her out on it.

She tried a new tactic - and stayed silent as she stared at him.

He stared back, his eyes unmoving.

After a prolonged moment, he nodded.

"Sure, sure. Gotta keep up ya walls, I get it"

"Oh, I'm not the one with walls," she said in defense, her new tactic failing as she opened the door to her room for her brand new one - escape. Apollo was asleep on her pillow just as she had thought - but he didn't rouse from his slumber.

She turned, clenching the doorknob tightly as she moved to close the door on him, but he slapped his hand to keep it open. She waited for his response.

To her surprise, he came back with neither a defensive remark nor a quip. Instead he kept his focus, almost as though relying on their silence to provide a buffer from whatever dark thoughts had caused a little line to form between his eyebrows. Ana bit the inside of her cheek as she studied him, torn between the urge to dig a little and the desire to respect his privacy.

"We both have bruises that say something different, Ana," he finally said.

She almost nodded but stopped.

"There's nothing here. There's nothing to-"

She cut herself off when he took a step forward past the doorway and into her space, staring her down. He leant forward, stopping when their lips were just a breath apart.

They both radiated with the need to close that distance. And it was Eggsy that held that restraint, pulling back with a smile.

"There's something, Anabelle. And I'd hate to call ya an idiot for denyin' it," he said.

She blinked and the haze fell away, frowning as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Eggsy took that moment to grab the doorknob, leaning forward to press a soft kiss against her cheek before he closed the door between them.

He stood there, hand on the doorknob, waiting for shouts or curses or for her to open the door again and punch him... but it never came. He let out a breath and let go of the doorknob, bringing his shaking hand to run it through his hair as he took a few steps back, turning to walk away to his own room.

Ana stood on the other side of the door, her heart beating overtime and her skin tingling from what had just happened.

"Ooh boy," she whispered to herself.

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review - they are always appreciated.

Edit: I thought this chapter hadn't yet been posted so I read through, edited, and then went to post but then realized my mistake. This means an edit AND a new chapter! Yay!(?)

Also: I may or may not be writing a Star Wars AU that takes place in the Star Wars universe but with the 'A' heavily implied... and would like a Beta or at least a fresh pair of eyes to know if what I'm writing is even worth it for people to read. If you are one of those, or know someone else who might be up for the job, let me know! I want to emphasize that it won't effect this current fic.

Thank you for reading.

As If By Magik by La Roux