Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations they find themselves in. Thanks for reading, please review and let me know what you think.
Sorry this took so long to get out, will try to do better in the future. Also, for anyone who cares, the names used for the Fae are all traditional Celtic names I got off the internet. Making up names is not one of my fortes.
Looking Through Your Eyes
Blurred images passed before his eyes with Harry unable to focus on anything long enough to even get a sense of what he was looking at. Future happenings that he wasn't allowed to see yet? Or perhaps happenings that were too uncertain to be shown? Either way the blurring went on for what was probably only a minute, but felt like ten times that before what Harry sensed was the final scene came into focus with laser cut clarity.
The sky was a brilliant blue, the sun shining brightly down on the patch of English countryside that stretched out as far as Harry could see. And standing in the middle of the grassy expansion was his two future children, both fully grown now and standing side by side as they stared into space.
His Lee looked just like he had in his thirties, the very handsome bespoke suit his son was wearing expertly tailored to Harry's discerning eye. And Diana had grown into a beautiful young lady who at the moment rather reminded Harry of a character from the movie 'The Matrix'. It was a little disconcerting really, especially since she was so delicate looking physically. But she was a grand high dominant so...
Diana spoke first. "They're almost here."
Lee nodded. "So we're clear on the Paparazzi Plan?"
"Yeah. Though this has to be the most mental plan we've ever come up with."
"I think that's rather giving us too much credit. Or you're getting forgetful in your old age, Squirt." Lee grinned over at her with true brotherly mirth before he rolled his shoulders like a boxer readying for a bout. "Let's do this."
At first Harry saw nothing, just clear sky, and then about a football field's distance away from his children a section of the horizon started to take on a shimmer reminiscent of the surface of a soap bubble. And the effect became more and more obvious right up until the panel of weird sky suddenly became a rectangle of light.
A gateway.
A heartbeat and then suddenly they were there. Fae hovering in midair in front of their portal and spreading out to make room for all of them while taking in the vista around them. Once they were all out the gateway remained as the beings of myth and legend descending to the ground, though their slippered feet stopped an inch or so from the grass and earth. Apparently they were too good to actually step foot on the planet they'd come to reclaim.
The seven elves were ethereal in their beauty. So stunning that it almost hurt to look at them in fact. Aside from their dress and type of jewelry their genders weren't immediately apparent, so androgynous were their looks and slender forms. They rather reminded Harry of Colin in that way. The three in the middle were the most ornately dressed, the woman wearing a circlet with a purple gemstone in the shape of a tear hanging down from the center.
It was she who addressed his children as she floated over towards them.
"Greetings. It has been many a millennium since my people ruled this land. And since we've seen or had reason to speak to dragons."
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance Lady Annwfn." Lee smiled at her congenially, his posture relaxed and confident. "Though I must admit that you aren't at all what I expected."
"You know my name."
"Of course. Legends of your deeds are still told here on Earth. One doesn't forget the woman responsible for the assassination of Lord Mabon of Herne. And his brother forgiving you...you must have a very forgiving nature, Ferehar. I wouldn't forgive anyone who killed MY sibling."
"Well it's not like Ferehar is without fault either, Big Brother. I mean he did use to blame his brother for things Mabon hadn't done all the time regardless of the punishment. Not to mention that whole incident on Keos."
And just like that Harry's children went on a roll as they began to throw out names, places, and various transgressions committed by that individual which ranged from gossiping behind a friend's back all the way up to murdering someone in cold blood. With plenty of adultery, thievery, and backstabbing thrown in. Harry's children could read minds...and even the least magical of elves lived for many centuries.
A life so long couldn't help but be filled with relationships, secrets, and transgressions the various members of this group would rather no one had known about. Fae cultivated an image of untouchable perfection after all, and having their dirty laundry aired out in front of them was pretty much their idea of torture. Particularly when they lived in a culture where deceit and trickery were considered the highest of art forms. To be caught in a lie or be unable to escape detection and punishment for crimes committed were all serious social faux pauxs.
There were very good reasons why cautionary tales about making deals with the Fae featured so heavily in folklore about them. The Fae considered their word sacrosanct...and lived to find loopholes that allowed them to keep their word while royally screwing over the one they made the deal with.
Though after the first few minutes of Fae gossip airing it was hard to hear what his children were accusing the members of the delegation of doing since the Fae in question were too busy either defending or verbally abusing each other. And it was while the seven were so wrapped up in either defending or offending another that Diana and Lee made their move.
Without so much as a glance in each other's direction the two siblings raised their hands in perfect synch and sent out a blast of pure magic that hit the Fae like a huge battering ram and sent them tumbling back.
Right into their portal.
The two manipulated the burst to ensure that all seven were funneled into the gateway, and as soon as they were through the two siblings closed the distance between them and the gateway in a burst of blinding speed that had Harry blinking hard as his brain tried to process just how fast they'd moved.
Lee went to the left and Diana to the right, their hands going clawed as they seemed to somehow grab a side of the magical construct and started...dragging it closed.
Muscled bulged and visibly strained as the two grand high dominants dragged their 'ends' closer and closer together. With every second that passed more black scales lifted up from their skin in defense, shredding clothing on their way up Lee and Diana's arms and then their torsos and necks as the two instinctively protected themselves against the magical construct they were treating like screen doors that refused to shut properly.
The language they used as they struggled strongly showed Eggsy's influence, and while in some corner of his mind Harry made note to scowled his mate for that the majority of his focus remained on his children.
Inch by inch. And then bam, the two ends connected, sealing the gateway shut.
Blinding, sheering light erupted in a magical burst then, sending both of Harry's children flying a good fifteen feet into the air and the length of a football pitch.
The two lay sprawled out on the grass, faces down and unmoving for several moments of indescribable fear on Harry's part, and then groans and more bitten off cursing filled the air. Limbs began to move and scales slowly recede back into their skins as both Diana and Lee rolled over and then sat up to take stock of their situation.
They were bleeding.
"Holy fuck...is this what pain feels like?" Diana pressed a still scaly hand to her bleeding cheek and then pulled it away, staring at the smears of blood like she'd never seen the substance before. "It hurts!"
"No shit."
"It really hurts!" Diana began poking and prodding the bleeding wounds on her face where her scales hadn't come out to protect her in time. Not that any real damage had been done, they were hardly more than scratches, but head wounds did tend to bleed a lot. "I don't like this!"
"Glad to know you aren't machoistic." Lee called over to her as he stumbled to his feet, brushing off the debris clinging to his destroyed suit as he started over in her direction. "You're all right?"
"If they ever show their pointy ears again I'm going to rip them off and bitchslap them to death with them for this." Diana mumbled to herself before turning her head to look her brother over. "I'm fine. You?"
"Fine. Though this suit is completely trashed."
Getting to her feet as well Diana smirked at him. "I told you to wear normal clothes."
Ignoring that Lee turned to study the sky before them, no sign of the gateway remaining as far as Harry could see. Their wounds were also no longer bleeding and seemed to be healing up completely, the blood spilled reabsorbing into their skin like it had never been shed.
"I'm not picking up anything. You?"
Diana shook her head and then went back to cursing the Fae with extreme violence and creativity.
"Well I have to go home, change, and then pick up the kids." A telling little pause. "So you're all right to tell the Dads about this without me, right?"
"Oh, nice try. No. I'm not taking all the blame for doing this behind their backs, Bruv."
"What? All you have to do is tell them that we closed the only portal the Fae could easily use to come to our world and now they'll have to travel through at least two other ones to get here. Which they aren't likely to do given that the one world in question is very similar to the humans' idea of Hell."
Diana snorted. "Right. Like they won't want all the details. And Papa ALWAYS knows when we leave something out."
"He has the power." Lee agreed with a sigh.
Apparently resigned to their future parental scolding the two siblings turned around and started walking away from the field, debating back and forth as to how best go about telling their fathers what they'd been up to.
)
Coming back to reality was easier this time around. Harry only had to blink a couple of times and he was back in the meeting room, standing with those he thought of as family while all around them were dragons from their guild and others from around the world. Powerful dragons who no doubt would have leapt at the chance to battle to the death for control of a grand high dominant. But had just seen for themselves the price they and the world would pay if they dared to try.
But would that be enough to stop them?
A squeeze to his hand had Harry looking over to meet Eggsy's gaze. A gaze that wasn't full of rage and horror this time.
"They're gonna be a handful."
Lips curving, Harry agreed with the sentiment wholeheartedly. "They'll certainly keep us on our toes."
Belatedly clueing into the fact that no one in the stands above them were making a sound Harry turned to scan above them, brows knitting together when he saw that everyone else was still...frozen for lack of a better word. And none of the expressions their faces were stuck in were pleasant.
"Are they still seeing things?" Colin asked huskily from the safety of his mate's embrace, Edward's arms wrapped tightly around him while his cheek pressed against Colin's hair. The blond's father was also rubbing his son's back soothingly while Roxy and Percival stood on either side of their parents. Poised and ready to strike at the first provocation.
"Yes." The Keeper stated simply. "You all had an overview of worst and best case scenarios. Now the rest of them are seeing what will become of them and their loved ones if they don't behave correctly in the future."
"Will that be enough to keep them in line?" Edward growled out, his dragon in his eyes.
"Most of them. There will be those whose arrogance and greed know no bounds...but without the support of their Guilds or leaders they won't get very far. Especially since both Lee and Diana will be able to foresee their actions and plans."
"My family? My children and grandchildren?"
The Keeper smiled reassuringly at Colin. "There are no guarantees in life. You know that. But I believe-we believe-that once we're done here, and spread the word to others, the future will be a bright one. One of peace and prosperity for our people rather than death."
"King looks like that guy from that painting. The one with the screaming bloke."
"You mean 'The Scream' by Edvard Munch." Harry informed his mate absently. "And yes, he does."
"We wanted to be very sure he had a clear vision of what his future would look like if he stayed true to his nature when it came to you and your family." The Keeper shook her head. "He has always been a fool. He couldn't tame you, much less a grand high dominant. Not that your own dominance isn't impressive now that you've come into your own, Harry Hart. You and your children will change our world for the better. I've seen it."
"Thank you. And thank you for...doing all this. Protecting my children this way."
The Keeper inclined her head.
"How long will they be like that?" Roxy wanted to know.
"Some should be coming out of it any minute. The ones who would never act against you or had the sense not to do so even before the visions. The others...they'll stay this way as long as it takes to get it through their thick, dragon skulls that they must behave." A slight smirk curved The Keeper's lips. "The punishment Lee inflicted on Kobayashi gave us the idea."
Everyone shuddered in remembrance.
"All of you can go now, if you wish. You don't need to be here for the rest of this. None of them will be in any condition to have a 'meeting' after they're all revived. Better to give them time to think and absorb. And plan how to best go about kissing up to you all in the future to ensure the prosperity of their own."
"Fucking hell!"
They all looked to where Merlin and his family had been sitting. The lot of them had just woken from their stasis, other groans and words starting to come from other parts of the room as they too revived.
"I want to go home now." Colin stated firmly.
"Me too." Harry breathed out.
"Then we go." Eggsy declared. "I need a fucking drink."
)
It was a tight fit but they managed to squeeze Merlin, Rachel, and their two teenage children into the limo with them. The four had come to the meeting in their own vehicle, but none of them had felt up to driving it safely. Or staying behind until someone was. Merlin was with Eggsy in wanting a drink while Rachel was quiet while clutching her children to her sides. Colin was feeling much the same, having gotten on the phone with Matthew as soon as they'd left the building. And while Colin reassured himself that his omega son was alright Edward called their son James and Roxy called Phillip and put them all on speaker phone so that they could all reassure themselves that their family was still whole. They didn't talk about what they'd learned and seen to those still in the dark. For now they wanted to simply connect and be together, even if it was just over the phone.
That Colin's father remained quiet and just listened to them all talk was a testament to the blow the Guild Master had taken.
For his part Harry burrowed against Eggsy's side, his mate's arm wrapped tightly around him in turn. With his face buried against Eggsy's hair so that he could breathe in his mate's scent with every inhalation, and a hand placed protectively over his stomach, Harry tried and failed to think. His brain was just too overwhelmed and battered at this point. Better to close his eyes and just be for now. Just be here with Eggsy, their unborn child, and the people closest to them nearby, their voices comforting background noise.
"We'll be home soon." Eggsy murmured to him, his voice low and soothing.
Harry nodded in agreement, eager to get back behind the safe walls of their home. It wasn't protected magically the way it would be in the future, but it was home and representative of his happiest memories. The best memories of his childhood, his time with Eggsy, and the flashes he'd seen of his life there with the family he and Eggsy would have in the future.
Yes, he was definitely ready to snuggle up in their bed at home, skin to skin, and just be with his mate and son.
Forget the work and the uncertainty of the future to come.
More quiet reigned on their side of the large vehicle until Merlin addressed Eggsy, offering to come by the following day to look the house over so that the security on the place could be improved. He had all the latest gadgets at his disposal, having invented a great many of them, and Merlin knew experts who could assist him in making sure that no one entered their home or business without their knowledge and permission.
"I don't want to spend my life protecting King or Veronica." Roxy stated suddenly. "I'll quit and you guys can hire me as a bodyguard."
"Me too." Percival added with a decisive nod.
"It would be wise to have a mole in the Kingsman guard though." A thoughtful look on Edward's face. "Though that could also make it easier for them to eliminate you. Nevermind."
"None of us are doing anything to prologue their lives." Colin bit off. "Either of them. And we're destroying Kobayashi financially at the VERY least."
"As soon as possible." Edward assured his mate. "He will pay dearly."
"We'll make sure of it." Eggsy seconded.
And Harry thirded.
With extreme prejudice.
