Come to the shop. Bring all of the Lost Guinevere's files.

That was the shortest summary Harry Hart could formulate from David Hollander's call. It was a shame of a summary too, because it ignored too many subjects. Top of the pile was how he never got to ask any question at all. He wouldn't have thought of it very alarming if he was still Galahad. However, he was now Arthur and secrets once hidden were now laid bare before him. Along with it, was the weight of that codename. David's tone didn't give any sign of harm or impending danger. Instead, there was relief mixed with worry. There was a grand amount of haste with excitement. That worried him as well.

It lodged tension in his belly, cramping it.

A name that held so much meaning, long put into the shadows, was now shoved into the light. He wasn't supposed to be the Arthur that should handle this. He only learned of the secrets that hid behind their secrets a few months ago.

He should've expected that fate would test him so soon.

"Merlin." He looked to his side only to see the agent sitting back and motioning at the screens. Before he followed the instruction, he took in Merlin's countenance. He expected a blank and that he had to rely on knowing him long enough to read him. He was surprised though. Merlin's agitation was more pronounced. The tensed jaw and the rigid lines of his shoulders couldn't be softened by the military jumper. The crease on his forehead and twist of his lips. He realized that this magnification was because he was not only his friend, but also the Arthur.

He had just found closure and acceptance to the secrets revealed to him and now, here's a new one. He turned to the screens.

One showed the current camera feed inside and outside the shop. Another showed shots taken from said feed of the woman that claimed to be Guinevere. Beside it were the Kingsman records with more pictures at the forefront. He could easily recall the details of most of the files. He could also remember how Merlin introduced this woman to him once he understood the gravity of the codename.

This is Susan Pevensie, the youngest, last and lost Guinevere. Her contributions to the Kingsman are still used to this day.

"This is the final picture they had of her the day she left." The picture was colorized to match the reports of the Arthur of that time. Merlin probably had all the details memorized with the scope of his job. "As you can see, it's a perfect match. Almost made look like she was supposed to vacation here instead of the countryside."

"Do you think it's her?"

"She will have to prove a lot. If it isn't her, disposal will be done in a blink. If it's her, it will be complicated."

"Because of the changes in the Kingsman hierarchy?"

"Nae. Because of technology."

The worry that was making home in his stomach evolved into dread. He knew what Merlin meant. If Valentine was able to infiltrate the shop by proving that their tech was better, who's to say that this wasn't an attempt of the same?

"So, how can we prove that it's not her?"

"There's the usual basics. Fingerprints and DNA." Knowing Merlin, a thousand or a million of questions were already filtered and their respective possibilities were laid out to be dealt with. "I'm going to do a global sweep just to make sure that we're up to date with the world's tech just in case she passes that. Though, even the greatest would miss something."

"You're that confident you can catch her."

"It innae a matter ay ability," Merlin's voice was cold. "It's responsibility."

Arthurs. Merlins. Guineveres. A closet of skeletons he was once ignorant of. He watched as this Guinevere sat with her back straight, shoulders tensed, gaze jumping from one painting to another. Her face still red even when it was cleaned of the tears a few moments before. Looking closer, Harry found a couple of curious things and it made the dread ease a bit.

"And the cat?"

That had Merlin tensing even more. He reached out and pressed a few keys. A feed replayed a few times. "This is anither reason why I hae tae make a global tech sweep."

Why was it, that the more Harry looked at the cat just popping out of the feed, he felt ease instead of even more dread? He searched for an answer within him, but found none. Instead, he batted Merlin's hand away and played the feed until the cat entered the shop. He only turned back to the live feed when he was satisfied.

Her hands were shaking.

"What are you going to do if it is her?"

"Then we find out where 'er loyalties lie, as well as the answer tae other questions. Such as why now. She shood be dead, but since we hae Captain America, we cannae discount the possibility. We cannae ignore the others as well."

"A consciousness transplant?"

Merlin looked surprised. "Hmm. A wee bit extreme. I was thinkin' along th' lines of a min' reprogram."

"Well. You have a plan."

"Hmm."

"What if she's loyal to us?"

Silence. Harry watched Merlin as he watched the so called lost Guinevere.

"What if she is Susan Pevensie, our long lost Guinevere, and is loyal to us?"

"If the lass is indeed she," Merlin hid his lips with a fist. He took a deep breath then shook his head. "That would be a miracle."

The lighter accent had him smiling. Merlin's number five distraction method from stress was more thinking. Apparently, the quartermaster hadn't thought in depth of the good possibility. It could result to even more stress, but the surprise of the moment was important to stop him from spiraling too much into the details. Merlin could handle those pretty well, but Harry had different plans at the moment.

"Oh. Hello there."

"Who're you, luv?"

A beat passed.

"Do you think she'll be as good as the records?"

"I hope. She's legend, after all."

"Annalise Hollander. David's granddaughter." A pale hand was held out, now steady. "I'll stand, but I dare not disturb the cat."

"Shall we?" Merlin collapsed everything and transferred all of it to their glasses, then stood. A glint in his eyes that made Harry wonder if that was what made Merlin, the Merlin of Kingsman.

"I still can't believe that you're David's granddaughter!" Eggsy couldn't deny that he was excited, hyped. "He never told me anything and he's been teaching, well trying to teach, me chess for months now! Roxy, did you know?"

"No. I'm more surprised that David's still teaching you. You're hopeless at it."

He could tell that even Roxy was intrigued, if the look on her face was anything to go by. Ever since he joined the Kingsman, he made it a habit to visit the shop outside official business. Something that he dragged Roxy in whenever she's available. It started as form of comfort. He wanted to know more about Harry, not as an agent but as a person. The shop had so many little stories about his mentor and he asked for them without pause. David and Oliver were only glad to tell. It was a way of exorcising demons and honoring the memory of a comrade well loved.

When Harry came back to them? Well those stories turned to blackmail material. Not that he used them often.

So imagine his curiosity when he barged in the shop's meeting room to see a new face. A very beautiful one at that. He deduced she was one of them only a beat later.

"May I venture a guess?" Annalise set her mug down. "You think it's too complicated. Not in terms of what they represent, but all the possibilities that could happen."

That made him think. The first part was true. He often thought of the chess pieces as the Kingsman at large. Often thought himself a knight too. But predicting what was to come frustrated him. Not that he couldn't, it just that he couldn't pick among so many.

"Fucking on point at first try. Am I that obvious?" Her wide eyes prompted a smirk from him. "I should brush up on my skills."

"Definitely not the chess ones. You don't have any skills for it." Roxy quipped. Her gaze was sharp even with the raised brow she gave him. She turned to Annalise. "I'm gonna say that's not a lucky guess."

The red smile shifted just a bit. Teasing to delighted. He had cozied up aplenty of women that he believed himself capable enough at reading and predicting them. Annalise Hollander though was open enough to read and quite a delight to try to predict.

"Oh no." She chuckled, shaking her head a bit. "I was gonna say 'or the other way around' just to make sure I have that base covered. I'm not that good."

But, there was something and he didn't know what it was, but damn he's itching to figure it out. It's like that shitty champagne drink during the Kingsman exam.

"So what is it you do?" Roxy poured herself another cup of tea.

"Oh. Nothing as big as you do. In terms of chess," She sent a look his way, her blue eyes dancing. "You can say I'm a pawn to your knights."

Eggsy's calling it. It was so easy to like her.

"I am not a spy, but closer to an informant. Other than that, I make sure that agents' back stories are consistent." It was obvious she knew what she was talking about. "Let's say, you were sent to my area, I am to make sure that our stories match up with yours. I also need to make sure that no one would give you away."

Her head tilted a bit to the side, smugness escaping her in playful twirls. "Mostly, it's people watching."

He looked at Roxy and found a slight furrow on her brow and a tight line on her lips. A popular expression when she's trying to solve a puzzle or she's trying to word her statements properly to get the most out of it.

"So any embarrassing stories? Favorite juicy gossips?" He leaned forward, so eager that Annalise paused halfway pouring herself another mug of hot choco. He noted that it was her third cup since Oliver came with a new kettle and her seventh since they came in. "The most scandalous."

Roxy apparently was planning a different set of questions, probably more educational, but nonetheless she was hooked by the topic.

Annalise considered as she finished pouring her mug. Her eyes half-lid in memory.

"Off record?"

"Fuck, yes please."

Having a staring contest with a cat was in all intents and purposes, an unfair match. Cats were starers, or at least that's how Roxy knew them. That's what she observed from the different cats her college friends had, and all the staring matches that she lost. Those were the only chances she could observe the felines. Her family favored dogs and birds and she really didn't ask why.

It's this lack of data that had her staring. Another reason was, if a cat leaps on top of the table where food and drinks were laid out, you're supposed to do something. However, the cat ignored the food and sat staring at her. The expression one of judging but it's golden eyes bellied warmth. So she stared and it stared back.

They both saw the cat the moment they stepped in. Annalise's introduction only made it the focus for a few moments. The cat looked well cared from the luscious coat and larger built. It also didn't make a sound all throughout the conversation. It just stayed curled up on her lap while she ran her fingers through its fur. Roxy still wondered if the woman knew she plowed through nine or more cups of hot chocolate, before she had to go to the loo.

Eggsy, ever the gent, escorted her. Though she had a feeling he wanted to know more.

They've always assumed that Kingsman was a large organization. It's just that their circle of interactions was so little.

Was it only just the agents? Or was it because they were new?

Roxy blinked at the thought.

The cat looked smug, before blinking back. Another staring match lost. The cat laid down on its stomach and licked its paw. Still smug.

It reminded her of Annalise, which was almost a given. Creatures tend to share traits through exposure. She tried to distinguish who got what trait from who, as strange as it was that her subjects were a cat and a grown woman. She gave the attempt a few moments before finally addressing what was bothering her.

Why was Annalise crying? Why, of all places, was she in the Kingsman meeting room?

Annalise said that she was visiting David, but everyone knew that it's not just that. Finding her in a core area of the Kingsman cemented that she was not a civilian. Her evasion to tell them even when she knew they're Kingsman hinted that as well. Roxy expected Harry and Merlin to come soon. If those two were involved, it would mean that there was concern. A Kingsman agent would be sent out soon, if it couldn't be fixed remotely.

Roxy hoped that Eggsy got more clues to share when they come back. She hardly got anything substantial from their conversation other than the fact that Annalise knew what she was doing.

The door opened. She stood up when she saw David holding it out to let Harry and Merlin in.

"Lancelot."

"Arthur. Merlin."

"At ease." Harry moved to his seat as Arthur, while Merlin stood by his side.

She sat back down in time to David closing the door. The cat was no longer on the table, instead sitting on the chair Annalise had vacated.

"She went to the loo and Galahad escorted her. They'll be back soon." She was right. It was something concerning. Harry had that little smile. Merlin was stoic, but his jaw was tense. That tension she held onto and it racked her spine. "Would you like me to—"

"—almost unfair because they have Captain America and a bunch of other superheroes. So I'm sayin', if that's how it is, the Kingsman is England's fuckin' own." The door opened. Silence reigned for a moment, gazes jumping from one place to another. Eggsy's smile shifted just a bit. "What's up?"

Annalise gave his arm a pat and another smile. Then she stepped into the room, no longer David's granddaughter. She stepped into the room like she owned it and the room was more than glad to be owned by her. This was indeed a serious matter.

She stopped at the other end of the table. "Dandelion gold no longer works."

Roxy turned to Harry, needing to see every reaction to get a clue. At the same time, her brain whizzed past everything she could pull out about dandelions, colors, and how they were used through the known Kingsman history. Harry's jaw tightened, then there was nothing else. Her subconscious was already going through curses at this point. No one would speak of it, but everyone knew they were still reeling back and adjusting to a new norm after Valentine. She turned to Merlin then.

His face took on the familiar analytic look. She hoped then, that she was sitting closer to them instead of where she was.

"What is it that ye suggest then?" Merlin asked after the silence.

Annalise's smile turned into a smirk. "I prefer lycoris red."

Roxy watched as Harry looked up at Merlin and how Merlin's forehead creased. Then, she looked back at Annalise. The smirk was gone.

"My name is Susan Pevensie. Codename: Guinevere. Kingsman."

Susan. Pevensie. Guinevere.

"You're supposed to be fuckin' dead." Eggsy's voice broke through the silence that followed. Roxy didn't even think he would know anything about Guinevere.

Annali—Susan's face cracked to momentary grief.

"You're both dismissed."

Eggsy looked like he was going to argue. Susan understood why. She did just lie to them about her identity and didn't even give enough proof about her claim of that identity. It was also clear that they were worried of David and Oliver's safety. They probably thought that she threatened the two just to get here. No. Not really threatened. If she wasn't Susan Pevensie and she was an enemy of the Kingsman, what she just did to David was exploitation of emotions. Oliver probably thought that she was a long lost relative of David's with how fast things moved earlier.

Roxy moved to open the door. It only served to heighten the tension. Susan doubted Roxy was agreeing to the dismissal, it's just that she knew that she wouldn't get anything by staying.

"I'm sorry for lying." She spoke out to break the tension. Eggsy's gaze turned to a glare when they landed on her. "I wasn't really sure if you would believe my story if I did tell you. David said I was the last."

"How can I even trust a word you're saying at this point, huh?"

"You can't and it will be better that you don't. But," Susan met his glare straight on. "This world now have superheroes, gods, and aliens. How can you discount my continued existence as an impossibility?"

She didn't give him a chance to answer and raised an eyebrow to lay down a challenge. "How well do you know Project Rebirth?"

She kept that brow up and her gaze steady, staring him to yielding. That would be enough. Roxy would grab at that little question and that would distract them enough to give her space. Eggsy looked like he got the same idea and averted his gaze. She forced herself not to smile. Those two were still a bit wet behind the ears, but they do show promise. Just like the younger than usual Arthur that now sat at the head of the table

Something must have happened with the Kingsman recently.

Susan turned to the Merlin and the Arthur with a raised hand once the door clicked shut. She needed the control in this situation and for as long as she could. The element of her surprise could only go for so long.

"I am willing to prove my identity in any way you wish me to. However," she dropped her hand back to the tabletop. "I would like to know what happened to the Q branch."

From the Merlin's reaction, she struck the right chord. She didn't care if she struck too early. She had to lay down as many cards as foundation as she could. She had to prove that she was too important to be disposed, whether be it her physical skills, mental prowess, or the information she knew, obsolete as it might be.

"It was transferred under the Merlin's leadership." Arthur answered her this time. She guessed that he had a few months to a year of experience as Arthur under his belt. However, the opposite could be said for the Merlin. "It's been that way, ever since."

The Kingsman was an organization that based its lore on the Arthurian stories. And like the fame these legends got, it had always spanned through as many countries as it could. That was why it had always been divided into three branches. Even in that, it followed the legends. In all the Knights of the Round Table, two were knighted by the King Arthur. Merlin, the wizard, filled 28 seats. A hundred seats were filled by the King Leodegrance as Guinevere's dowry. Translate that to departments, then you'll have the span of reach the Kingsman had. Departments led by those who received codenames outside the Knights of Round.

The answer wasn't satisfying. She wanted to know what happened to all the people under her. If they lived a peaceful life and if they even noticed that she disappeared. At this point? She had to be.

"What do I have to do?"

Note:

Here is an attempt of an organization with the Kingsman. I hope I explained a summary or preview of it properly. I hope and pray that I can explain it without resorting to information dumps, especially the extensive kind. All I can say this early in relation to what I had in mind is that it would be a great player on how the dynamics of the organization and their allies would go.

This story is unbetaed and I have 10 chapters with 11 being written in progress. If you have anything you wish to clarify about anything, feel free to ask. I would love to hear what you think about it.

Thank you so much for your time and interest.