Hello! I'm so sorry for the delay! But I'm here again! So I told you guys that I'm on jterm right now and have loads of time on my hands which I've been using to work on this story. And I have! But the thing is I'm simultaneously working on like, five chapter at once so the process is slow. But I have so many cool plans and I hope everyone enjoys reading my story as much as I've enjoyed writing it! And a BIG thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed, favorited, and PM me. You all are why I write! Enjoy this chapter!

A strawberry lock of Elaine's hair was wrapped around his finger. Watching her sleep in the soft morning light, Eggsy sighed and shifted closer to her. She was settled into her pillow and Eggsy was content in just taking in her peaceful sleep.

Running his finger over her cheek was like running his finger over a map; the valleys of her cheeks wide and free, the dips and hills of her lips unending, her eyes emerald pools deep and full, and her freckles everything in between.

Elaine shifted when Eggsy brushed a lock of her hair back. Wrinkling her nose, Elaine stretched and peeked over at him with a sleepy smile.

"Goodmorning, love."

Elaine just hummed as she rolled towards him and rested on his shoulder, legs intertwining with his. A peaceful silence hazed over them. Eggsy twirled Elaine's long tresses with his fingers. As they lay silently together, Eggsy realized that they fit perfectly together like the evening sky and the world below; they were two puzzle pieces and they connected without a flaw.

"I feel like we're a million miles from the world," Elaine whispered.

Eggsy mumbled in agreement, too relaxed to say anything.

"Like we're in a snow globe," Elaine lazily traced patterns on his chest. "No one but us. People try to shake us apart but it just swirls the snow. Harmless."

"Harmless," Eggsy whispered.

A warm pool suddenly collected on Eggsy's skin, rolling down and over his bare chest. Elaine's hand had gone still, an ice cold chill radiating from her. Looking down, his chest was covered in blood.

Elaine's Blood.

She was ashen, her eyes rolled up into her skull and Eggsy could no longer hear her once constant breath. Shooting up, Eggsy grabbed her and shook her.

"Elaine!"

Eggsy couldn't get her back; he shook and shook her but the only thing he accomplished was spreading her blood. Taking her pale face in his hands, she suddenly opened her eyes. And her eyes were full of rage.

"You did this to me," she growled.

"No… I," Eggsy sputtered.

"You did this to me!" Elaine screamed.

Her eyes, which had been liquid emerald, were now black and furious. Suddenly, her black eyes embedded in her cracked, ashen skin was all he could see.

Eggsy jolted awake.

There was a thin sheen of sweat covering his skin and the terror of the dream had translated into a relentless tremor in his heart as he sat in the hospital room.

Shaking, the plastic arms of the chair he had been sleeping in groaned in protest of his tight grip. Sliding down in the chair, his fingers ran over his sweaty face and Eggsy wished for a moment for sleep to overtake him so he could see her awake again. Even if she was furious. The beginning of the dream was worth her rage.

Looking up, the sight of Elaine lying still and comatose was a shot in the heart.

He didn't know how he did it, but he managed to stand up and take the few steps to her side. Gently, Eggsy sat at by her side, the bed dipped and her hand slid towards his. For a second he let the illusion she was just sleeping hold together.

"If you wanna rattle on about flowers, now would be the time," Eggsy suggested, his half-hearted smile slipping away as her heart monitor marched on.

She didn't respond. Naturally.

Elaine just laid against the bed, ashen, pale, her sleeping eyes shallow in her face. There were tubes in her throat and tubes beneath her nose and tubes for IV and tubes connecting her to monitors. The rhythmic beating of the monitor the only proof she was living.

She looked dead.

The door bursting open startled Eggsy, but he didn't turn to look, he just remained to stare at Elaine, holding her hand.

"Oh god," Someone sobbed behind him. "Ellie,"

Maisey ran to the bed, ignoring Eggsy, and desperately looked at her friend to find any semblance of consciousness. A man came up behind her and put his hand on her back. Eggsy noticed he looked equally devastated.

"Maisey," Eggsy said, but then stopped when he realized he didn't know what to say.

"What did they say?" The man standing behind Maisey asked. His hands were anxiously rubbing Maisey's back while looking at Eggsy fearfully.

"Medically induced coma. She has a concussion, but thankfully nothing life-threatening. She has a lotta cuts and internal bruises and… well, when the car crashed a shard of windshield flew into her. It missed all vital organs, but," Eggsy fell silent.

Maisey dipped her head against Elaine's shoulder and silently shook. The man behind her just stared. He suddenly shook himself out of his stare and extended his hand to Eggsy.

"I'm Daniel, by the way." He offered, still looking sick.

"Eggsy,"

"Yeah, May told me about you." Daniel gave him a half-hearted smile.

Maisey sniffled, brushed her face with her sleeve, and met Eggsy's eyes.

"Who's her doctor?" Daniel asked, he looked like he stood in a haze and he asked the first question to come to him.

"Some bloke named Gould, apparently he's the best."

Thankfully, Merlin used his connections to ensure Elaine got the best care. Eggsy was too skeptical to assume Merlin only got the doctor because he felt guilty, but there was a hint of regret- perhaps some responsibility- when he told Eggsy of Elaine's situation.

"How long have you been here?" Maisey asked, her nose was still running and her eyes were rimmed with red and brimming with tears.

"Since she got outta surgery." Eggsy cleared his throat as Maisey and Daniel brought him out of his thoughts.

Maisey sniffled again, paused, then looked at Eggsy with concern.

"That was three days ago. You've been here for three days?"

Eggsy looked down, his shirt was wrinkled, his tie was still in Milan, and he could almost feel the bags beneath his tired eyes.

"I couldn't leave." Eggsy said, more to himself than anyone.

Maisey let out a disbelieving sigh and leaned against Daniel. She closed her eyes and said nothing more.

"You should go home," Daniel suggested. "Get some rest. We'll look after her and call you if anything changes."

Eggsy stood up and walked to the chair that he had previously been sleeping in. He thought about taking the offer, but the thought of leaving Elaine when he had failed her so badly was out of the question.

"No, I can't le-" Eggsy hesitated when he saw Bedivere standing in the doorway of the room.

Before Maisey and Daniel could catch sight of Bedivere, he disappeared back into the hallway.

"Alright," Eggsy said. He grabbed his wrinkled jacket and gave Elaine one last look before turning to her two friends. "If anything happens, please call me."

"Of course," Daniel said.

Eggsy nodded and went to find Bedivere.

On his way out of the hospital, he happened to come across the room where Greg was recovering in. Standing in the doorway, Eggsy stood and thought about the possibilities of avenging Elaine. His Elaine. Eggsy should have taken care of him when he had the chance, but then he thought of how Elaine would look at him if he did something so rash; just like she would look at him now that she knew the truth of who he was. Maybe he wasn't better than a murderer. Maybe killing Greg wouldn't change anything.

Bedivere walked up. Eggsy paid him no attention. He just glared at the man passed out and injured in the small hospital room.

"Now's not the time," Bedivere said.

Eggsy lingered another moment with his hate before stepping back and walking away.

"Yeah. But when is?"

The next day fared no better for Eggsy. Or anyone, really.

The Kingsmen continued their struggle with finding evidence and conspirators of the terrorist group, added on to the stress of a ridiculous debacle with a batch of new recruits for an open agent position. So, when the day ended, Eggsy trudged to the tube to go back to the city and collapsed in a seat, sat back in his chair and closed his eyes in an attempt to block out the headache that was slowly driving him insane.

The tube slowed as it came into one of the tailor shops outside of HQ and Eggsy knew instantly who would join him. The doors to the underground train slid open and Roxy stepped in, sitting directly opposite him. She wore her usual work attire with a bag he'd never seen before on her lap.

"Rox," Eggsy greeted.

"Eggsy," She nodded, crossing her legs.

Roxy seemed to be searching for something to say as she fiddled with the hem of her jacket, but she must have had nothing to say because they both remained silent.

"I've heard there's talk of a big mission?" Eggsy spoke up.

"Me as well. Merlin's keeping the information to a minimum, but it sounds like there'll be need of us in a couple days if current events continue the way they are."

"Right." Eggsy shifted in his seat.

"About Elaine," Roxy started, not wasting any time with small talk.

"Jumpin' right into it, are you?" Eggsy sighed, pinching his nose and trying to ignore the pounding headache emanating from his forehead.

"I'm just worried that you're not facing your guilt of the situation," Roxy said.

"My guilt? You sayin' this is my fault?" Eggsy asked incredulously, his voice rising.

"No, Eggsy, come on, that came out wrong," Roxy defended, moving closer and setting a hand on his knee.

Eggsy moved back.

"Yeah, alright. You think I can't be arsed to give a damn about her? Is that it?" His voice still rose but he didn't seem to care or notice. "You think this bloody chaos of what Greg did to Elaine is because of me, huh!? Are you having a laugh?" Eggsy hadn't realized he was standing over Roxy until she pushed him away.

"I told you, that's not what I meant!" Roxy yelled. "No need to go all bloody aggro!"

Eggsy took a moment and settled back in his seat. Burying his face in his hands, he tried to will the shame away along with his headache, but the only thing he achieved was messing up his hair and bruising his ego more.

"You're right, I'm sorry," Eggsy said into his palms.

He tried to calm himself; he was no longer angry at Roxy, but his heart wouldn't stop speeding and no matter how hard he tried to still them, his hands shook.

Roxy's hand settled on his knee and followed her calming gesture with a muttered apology even though she had nothing to apologize for.

"You should take a few days-"

"No," Eggsy said with a solid resolution.

"I'm sure Merlin would understand."

"It's not Merlin I'm worried about," Eggsy crossed his arms.

"So what is? Worried you're going to, what? Give up you're masculinity because you admit you're emotional about this?"

The tube was nearing the next stop and Eggsy was itching to escape Roxy's admittedly good-hearted interrogation. Uncomfortable, he shifted in his seat and checked his watch.

"Look, Rox, thanks for everything, but I really don't wanna talk about this right now."

Roxy was about to refute when the door opened and Eggsy took his chance at escape.

"Just one more thing," Roxy stopped him.

Turning with hesitance, Eggsy allowed her to stop him and waited for her to elaborate. Without a word, she handed Eggsy the bag she was carrying.

"It's Elaine's. Well... it's the bag she threw at me. That night."

Roxy seemed to be waiting for him to say something but he just stared down at the bag in his hands and thought of the last night he saw her.

He nodded, placed a grateful hand on her shoulder, and walked out of the tube with the bag in his hands.

As it turns out, Eggsy didn't make it all that far.

Once he was out of the tube and in the Kingsmen tailor shop, Eggsy collapse in a chair and contemplated the bag in his hands.

"Is there anything I can assist with, sir?"

Eggsy sat back and sighed. The resident tailor that watched this particular tailor shop was standing in the doorway.

"Thank you, Mr. Brown, but I just thought I'd take a moment."

"Very well, sir."

Mr. Brown disappeared through the doorway and thankfully didn't ask questions. Eggsy only conversed with him in passing, but the old tailor was always a blessing.

With the silence Mr. Brown allowed him, Eggsy slumped in his chair- a luxury he did not take lightly- and turned the bag in his hands. Looking at it now, the bag was without a doubt Elaine's. There was her signature embroidery covering every surface; her soft thread flowers cascading down the thick fabric. And more than a few were daisies.

Daisies were her flowers. He had decided.

With all her talk of 'one of my favorites', Eggsy noticed that daisies were a common occurrence in her wardrobe, her hair, and the flowers that filled her vases scattered around her apartment.

Daisies were her flower; he figured her out.

The smile on his lips diminished. Sobering, Eggsy opened the bag for no reason other to pour lemon juice in the cut.

The first thing he saw was Elaine's Van Gogh wallet, her floral Monet encased phone, the keys to her apartment, and her sketchbook with her ink pens at the bottom of the bag. Taking out the well-worn sketchbook, Eggsy hesitantly flipped through the pages. He took his time on each sketch. And the thing that stood out to him the most that an overwhelming majority of her work was bridal dresses.

She had gel ink dresses, simple dresses, and smudged pencil dresses. Some were just outlines, skeletons and structural blueprints of pieces, others were brief ideas of silhouettes and veils and cascading trains. Then Eggsy flipped to the later pages and found intricately drawn gown detailed to the lace,

Written next to the sketched dresses were lists of fabrics. One dress was labeled satin, another silk and taffeta, and one Peau de Soie. And more than one dress features little daisy embellishments.

Eggsy started when a water droplet hit the page he was admiring.

Shutting the book in a flash, Eggsy quickly shook himself and cleared his throat. Stuffing her sketchbook back in her bag, his hand was scratched by the keys to her apartment. Pulling them out, Eggsy turned them around in his hand and studied the charms attached to them. Obviously, there was a daisy charm, along with a rose and tulip and bedazzled cat.

Something in Eggsy brain prodded him; something about the charms.

"Herschel!"

Eggsy jumped up, gathered his things, and ran out of the secluded room only to bump into Mr. Brown.

"Think you could call me a cab?" Eggsy asked quickly.

"I've already taken that liberty, sir."

Eggsy's shoulders relaxed somewhat as he nodded at the old Kingsmen tailor.

"You're the best, Brown."

The cab stopped in front of Elaine's apartment just as Eggsy thought he would lose his mind. Just from running up her steps and pulling out her keys, Eggsy could hear Herschel scratching at the door. And the cat's lonely cowls only grew once Eggsy swung open the door and stepped into the cat.

"Hey, there, little guy," Eggsy said, picking up the grey ragdoll and giving him a tight squeeze.

Herschel mewled loudly.

"I know, I know," Eggsy consoled.

He walked into the apartment and immediately dropped the cat in order to fill his food bowl which Herschel all but pounced on. Next was his water supply, and then another soft scratch behind the cat's ear.

Leaving the cat behind, Eggsy went in search of Elaine's cat carrier.

"If I can't protect Elaine, I'm going to be damn sure I protect her cat," Eggsy mumbled to himself.

Walking through her apartment was hard. Especially with the memories of the last time he was here replaying in his head.

I love you

She whispered like she didn't want him to hear.

Shaking the memory out of his head, Eggsy continued his search for Herschel's pet carrier. Stepping into her room, he saw Herschel's carrier lumped in the corner beside her bed. Eggsy knew Elaine cleaned when she couldn't sleep and it showed. The only thing out of place was the carrier.

Her bed was neatly made, desk organized, and her book stand alphabetized. The fairy lights draped around her window were still glowing so Eggsy reached down and turned them off. Elaine would never forgive him if he let a fire start in her apartment.

She may never forgive him for everything else, too.

Herschel padded into the room and brushed up against Eggsy's leg like he knew Elaine was in trouble.

"I know, Hersch," Eggsy consoled, gently picking up the cat and holding him close.

He picked up the carrier, set in on Elaine's bed, and coaxed Herschel into it before zipping it closed. Herschel let out a distressed mewl, but shrank back and remained silent.

Then, with Herschel in the carrier, Eggsy left Elaine's apartment, unable to spend more time where she once had been.

Despite his eagerness to escape where Elaine had once been, Eggsy found himself later that night at the hospital sitting next to her and holding her hand. He chalked it up to guilt and reasoned that as long as Elaine was lying here, he better put himself through as pain as he could.

And it was working.

Sitting next to a comatose Elaine was his trial. And he would sit here until she woke up and he didn't just a damn about what anyone would say about it. He would stay.

Leaning forward, Eggsy dropped his head into his hands and tried once again to will his interminable headache away to no avail. And now there was an ache in his chest that burned and spread the ache through his veins. All of which he deserved.

"Just make it through, Elaine," Eggsy pleaded, holding her hand close.

She remained silent.

Eggsy started when the doctor walked in with a clipboard and an unsurprised expression.

"Still here?" Dr. Gould asked.

"Got nowhere better to be," Eggsy said tiredly.

Dr. Gould huffed, and walked over to his patient and checked this and that. He was a middle-aged man with a sloping belly and a red, bulbous nose and as he was looking over his patient, Eggsy got the distinct feeling the doctor was nervous about something.

"Alright there, doc?" Eggsy asked.

Dr. Gould jumped and turned to Eggsy with a little twitch in his eye.

"Yes, fine, fine," He said. "Long shift a couple nights in a row paired with a pot or two more coffee than I should have drunk, I suppose."

He laughed, then fiddled with the clipboard before confirming that everything was in order before leaving Eggsy alone once more.

His phone buzzed not long after. He contemplated ignoring it as he stared at Elaine, but decided against it on the fifth ring.

"Yeah," He answered shortly.

"We've been called in," Roxy said. "The big mission Merlin was talking about is underway. Get to HQ as soon as you can."

"Yup. See you soon." Eggsy sighed, putting his phone down and giving one last gaze at Elaine's seemingly lifeless figure before walking out of her room.

Unbeknownst to Eggsy and the other Kingsmen, the doctor in charge of caring for Elaine overlooked the street below, not a few blocks from the hospital. The night lounge he was in was next to empty, poorly lit, and the last place he would choose to spend his free time in. But nevertheless, he was here.

The waitress set a drink in front of him and left him alone.

Just as he brought to glass up to his lips, he spotted a woman wearing black approaching. Chugging his drink in one nervous gulp, he set the glass down with a loud clunk and motioned to the waitress for another.

"Doctor," The woman greeted as she sat down opposite him, voice like silk.

Doctor Gould just mumbled, looking past his guest to the waitress.

"How are you?" She asked.

"Like you bloody care," He grumbled. "Americans…"

She shifted as she laughed, locks of blond hair falling over her shoulder. It only took a moment for the intense hold of her gaze to pin him down again. Although her smile was easier than the other times he had met with her. Looser. Gould thought in another universe she could be soft, innocent. She was young enough and pretty enough.

But he knew not to underestimate her.

The waitress set his second drink down and asked his guest if she wanted anything. She said no. She was convincingly nice, innocent.

Gould shivered, taking a long sip of his drink.

She leaned forward and gave him a smile.

"Not only am I American, I'm Minnesotan. We're known for being 'Minnesota nice', you know."

Doctor Gould put his drink down and loosened his tie before looking around nervously. Being in a place so open with her made his skin crawl.

"Why are we meeting here anyway? Don't you phantoms enjoy the recluse of dark corners."

"I'm not a phantom," She said, leaning back with a smug smile. "I'm just someone with a goal. And I can't have a nice night out?"

She took his drink from him and finished it in one swig. Holding the empty glass in her hands, she tapped her nails against it in a rhythm. Dr. Gould shook his head and tried to remind himself how he got into this situation, to begin with.

"Soccer players have goals. You have… this is…"

The sharp taps on the glass stopped.

"Are you in or out? Because I can let you go anytime I want." She interrupted sharply before his stuttering could be continued.

Dr. Gould hesitated. Scratching his head, he grabbed his empty glass from the woman sitting opposite him and motioned to the waitress before nodding in agreement.

"Good. Now, when is the medicine going to be ready?"

"It's not a matter of when it will be ready, but how to get it. Even the fact that I work closely with the biomedical research and development lab can't get you the drugs."

"Then don't worry about it. As long as its effective and developed, I can get my hands on it."

"Ms. Wyndham, be reasonable," he tried.

He was only met with an eye roll and chilly smirk.

The waitress brought the doctor his second drink. Sighing, he decided to go along with her ludicrous statement and pulled his drink towards himself.

"And how will you get Elaine?"

Dr. Gould shifted back when Ms. Wyndham stood up and over him. Silently, she reached forwards, took his drink and finished it before he could protest.

"As I said. Don't worry about it." She turned his glass upside down and set it down on the table with a heavy clank. "So just stick to the plan and wait for further instructions."

Without another word, she turned on her heel and disappeared from the dim lounge.

"Guess I'll get the tab then," the doctor muttered.