Chapter Four-
"Now Harry," Hunter began, swirling her drink. "I believe you have some questions for me. And just a heads up, I've cut the automatic connection between you and Merlin, so we can talk in private. If you need to speak to him, just call him manually. I'm sure you understand." Harry bit back a sharp retort. The two were sitting at opposite ends of the table. Platters of steaming food were lay out in front of him- soups, meats, sauces… the mouth-watering aromas were overpowering, but Harry managed to ignore them. He knew as a gentleman, he should accept Hunter's 'hospitality', but in this scenario, he doubted he was required to apply his principles. All the same, just to be polite, he ate a small portion of some kind of fish. He had a difficult time not inhaling the food, it was so delicious. And besides, he hadn't eaten since six in the morning.
"How do you know about Kingsman?" he asked after a few moments, after he helped himself to another portion of fish. "And how can you predict my moves before I even make them?"
"I'll answer your second question first. You're extremely predictable, Harry." Harry felt outraged. "Well, I mean," Hunter corrected, "in the sense that you have a very logical mind." Harry gestured for her to explain. "Okay, let's start with how I knew you'd come to find me. It takes ten hours to fly from the city we were in yesterday to Kingsman HQ. Furthermore, you probably spent around two hours getting refreshed and debriefing Merlin. It took you three hours to get here by car, and half an hour surveying the property. Therefore, if you left at two a.m. last night, you would arrive here at five-thirty, give or take a half hour." She glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. "We sat down at five forty-six, so my best guess is that my reasoning was correct." Harry remained silent. "As for how I knew where you would enter- I purposely made sure to close and lock every entry point in this building except for that window," she explained. "So, based on logic, the best entry point would be exactly that window, for obvious reasons." Harry couldn't argue. "Finally, if your enemy turned their back on you, what's the first thing you would do?"
"Shoot them." Realization dawned on Harry. He'd been set up.
"Exactly." She shrugged. "And if that wasn't enough, the mirror on the wall over there gave it away." She motioned towards a medium-sized vanity mirror mounted on the wall. "I could see your reflection."
"Clever," Harry grudgingly admitted.
"Thank you. If you want my advice, it'd be this- be more irrational."
"In what sense?"
"Well…" she thought for a moment. Harry noticed her cheeks flush slightly. "I was totally caught by surprise when you so graciously bestowed upon me a token of your infatuation." It took Harry a minute to understand. Despite himself, a cheeky grin spread across his face.
"I do apologize, but it was uncontrollable."
"A gentleman should be able to control himself in any situation." Harry winced slightly, immediately reminded of the loss of control he had felt in the church. How much he had wanted to kill those people. How they all deserved to die. Hunter realized this just as he was thinking it, and her expression became apologetic. "Oh god, Harry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it in that way."
"No," he said, waving her off. "It's true. I'm sorry."
"Let's continue," Hunter said awkwardly, changing the subject. "As for how I know about Kingsman… You don't know?" Harry gave the slightest shake of his head. She frowned slightly, leaning back into her chair. "Hm. Well, first things first." Hunter picked up a thin silver remote sitting beside her plate. Pressing a button in the center, a blue hologram suddenly appeared a few feet in the air, providing a floating screen separating Harry from Hunter. "Merlin," she commanded. To Harry's shock, the hologram blinked and began showing live footage of Merlin. He was typing away furiously on a keyboard.
"That can't be real," Harry insisted.
"Call him," Hunter challenged. Harry pressed a button on his earpiece, connecting to Merlin.
"Galahad, is everything okay?" Merlin said into his mic. Harry watched in fascination as the Merlin on the screen spoke in perfect sync with the Merlin replying to Harry- in fact, the replying Merlin was slightly delayed.
"Impossible," Harry whispered. "Nothing, Merlin," he said into his mic. On screen, Merlin made a face before turning off his mic.
"Want to see Eggsy?" Hunter asked quietly. Without waiting for a reply, she spoke. "Switch to Eggsy." The screen blinked, switching to a blurry and slightly grainy view of a handsome young man in a suit walking in a dark street. Even though Harry steeled himself, he felt a sharp tug of pain in his chest. Eggsy was taller, more muscular. He was surprised to find how much he had missed the cocky teenager. It had been four months since he had last seen Eggsy. Merlin frequently updated Harry on his well-being, but Harry hadn't actually seen him for what felt like forever.
Merlin had sent Eggsy on a mission a few days ago, in Shanghai. Hunter had turned the footage on just as Eggsy began fighting three masked men, who had been previously trailing behind him. Obviously, the men were no match for Eggsy, despite their numbers. Harry smiled fondly when he saw Eggsy's weapon of choice- an umbrella. Eggsy proceeded to kick their asses. Long after Hunter turned off the footage, Harry stood, frozen, staring at where Eggsy's face had been moments before. His hand dropped back to his side.
Hunter watched his response to seeing Eggsy curiously. Something inside her softened. To Hunter, Harry seemed sort of… she had a hard time explaining it. Strong, fiercely loyal, brave, yes. But also… slightly detached- it literally seemed as if he kept his emotions in a tiny locked box. In the time she had begun to watch him, she'd never seen him look… so emotionally affected, except when Lancelot had died a few months earlier. Even then, for the most part, he had kept his emotions in check.
"How?" Harry uttered finally. He didn't meet her gaze. Hunter didn't reply at first. She beckoned to him, crossing her legs.
"Come closer." Harry reluctantly approached her. He stopped a metre or so away. She shook her head. "Closer." Harry took a step forward. She let out a frustrated grumble. "Closer. Like, a lot closer." Harry's neutral expression twitched slightly as he closed the space. She reached up to his face from where she was still sitting, and he backed away slightly. She rolled her eyes, waving a hand. "Fine, it's your choice." Harry clenched his teeth, exhaling. He moved forward, and to his surprise, Hunter suddenly whipped off his glasses. His hand shot out, but she stopped him.
She raised the glasses up to the light, peering. A moment later, she tapped the corner of the right lense, inserting her nail into a small crevice between where the leg of the glasses connected with the frame. There was a tiny pop and a miniscule chip fell into Hunter's outstretched palm. She looked up at him. Harry remained silent. "My finest nanotechnology creation."
"What does it do?"
"Sends out powerful signals. Very, very powerful signals. It'll locate and intercept the nearest video surveillance footage from it, and transmit the footage at my command." She shrugged. "Obviously, it has some major flaws. Only works if the person I want to see is wearing the glasses, and if there are any cameras nearby. Take the last Lancelot. James. He hated the glasses, never wanted to wear them. I was never able to monitor him." She held the chip out to Harry. He took it gently and promptly snapped it beneath his fingers, letting the pieces fall to the ground. Hunter glared at him. "Those are expensive to make, you know."
"How the bloody hell did you get them in there?" He didn't bother to apologize for his use of language. He was furious. She exhaled again, sighing through her nose.
"Follow me, please." Harry didn't move. She swore quietly. "Stop being so difficult." Harry felt his façade melt at her penetrating gaze and glared back. She smirked. "Professional." Harry tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. She examined him, before adding,"And handsome."
"Thank you," he responded, expression darkening. Hunter stood up, and Harry couldn't help but admire her as well. She was wearing another dress- this one was dark red, the colour of his favourite wine- Château Le Pin Pomerol, 1999. It was beautiful and elegant. The silk wrapped around her upper body, the neckline high and stretching across her defined shoulders. The bottom ended at her knees, a-lining out from her narrow waist. Her hair was done up in the usual glossy ponytail, if not a little higher than usual. "And may I add that you look simply ravishing in that colour."
"Hm," Hunter managed, biting her lip to keep the growing smile under control. Harry didn't return her smile. She grimaced. "If you want to know more, I suggest you come with me. Otherwise…" She waved a hand at the still open window Harry had entered through. "You can leave, I guess." Harry gave her a wry smile. He had to hand it to her- she had him trapped.
"Lead the way."
Just wanted to give a HUMONGOUS thank you for all the support. Hope this chapter was okay… I had severe, severe writer's block. I had to rewrite this chapter like, six times. One involved a huge fight with various silverware, one involved smut, one involved both… yeah. It'll get interesting in the chapter after next, I swear. Please tell me how I did, because I might redo this one again, I just wanted to post something for all you guys.
Again, huge thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed, faved, or even just read this story. Really appreciate it!
Just a side note, to Figments of Delusion (your Kingsman story is awesome by the way): Hope I answered your question in this chapter!
And to 123Books (your Kingsman story is awesome as well): Hope I answered like, one question. More will be revealed soon… *spooky voice*
And additional thanks to TheSparklyOverlord, spiritofawatergoddess, StrawberryWine36, and cutiestiles for your reviews!
I think that's all for now. Really hope you guys enjoyed the update, tell me what you thought about it! Until next time, my friends.
-happynomnom
