Chapter Six - A Tragedy Story
"It's a tragedy when two lovers have to die. All in the same day, when all I wanted was to create the perfect child for them. I wasn't going to kill anyone! Not till after the deed was done, however."
"You're sick Radcliff."
"At least I'm not sick in love with a dead man. I've never been sick in love, thank heavens! Or I might have reproduced, a sick and weak and ugly version of myself, doomed to live in a world where perfection is exactly what they're not."
"I'm so glad you didn't reproduce too." Roxy fisted Radcliffe's leg, to get him off the needle. She pulled it from her side and stabbed him with it.
Radcliffe wouldn't have it, though he did seem to be finally slowing down. He inhumanly pulled out the thorn from his side and began stabbing Roxy with it again. She was only able to dodge four blows, due to her being on the floor, and in unimaginable pain. She was stabbed three more times, however.
"You were supposed to listen to me! To do my bidding!" He was screaming.
Roxy had to think fast or she'd be all sorts of immobile. Just to the left of her, a power socket was lending its energy to a power chord that led to a nearby vacuum charging station. Radcliffe was surprisingly, and freakily a clean freak, who's vacuum robots roamed the halls.
Roxy grabbed the chord and used what strength left that she had to jump on Radcliffe's back. She used the chord to wrap it around his neck. He fought back hard, throwing punch after punch at Roxy's back and legs. He didn't seem to feel the suffocation his was going through. As he fell to the ground with Roxy on top of him, he let out the last few words. "Beau... ah- chil... could've- ...ade"
Roxy punched his face a few more times after he had died just to be sure. She checked his pockets and found a device that seemed to control the locks of the whole underground facility. Roxy also found in his jacket, a drug injection device. The man didn't seem to take a hit like a normal man because he couldn't feel anything. Roxy scoffed, then pocketed the device.
Just as she stood and started to walk away from a room she would rather leave to be forgotten. Footsteps of a large group sounded in the distance. They were getting closer, and fast. Roxy went back to Radcliffe's corps and took the cord from his neck, which was dripping blood. She neared the corridor's end as she prepared to attack the incoming assailants.
Eggsy and a dozen children came running around the bend, right into Roxy.
"Rox!" Eggsy shouted with concern. She did not look okay.
"I'm fine Eggsy." She said halfheartedly, while she counted and observed the children he had following him, and the baby in his arms.
"We've got to go, now." Eggsy turned to 24, who he had given a new name, "Foura, help my best mate out would ya?"
The little girl went to Roxy's side, and much to the kingsman agent's surprise was able to help carry half of her weight. Roxy was, at this time, so happy she had deformed Radcliffe's face, she couldn't possibly imagine what these children would do to her if they had seen her kill their master.
Just as they started to pick up speed, a base wide alarm started to ring. Red flashing lights flickered everywhere. "This way!" Roxy shouted and led the way holding Radcliffe's device in her hand.
The rest of Radcliffe's children, who didn't come with Eggsy, were with a group of Radcliffe's men and gaining on them. Eggsy, Roxy and the kids were able to make it to the outside world, above ground. Right before Radcliffe's brainwashed men caught up to them.
"Rox! Call home!" Eggsy shouted as he started to take on ten of Radcliffe's men, with a baby still in his arms. The children, all of them, had frozen in place about them. They were looking around in awe astonishment at the very boring town of Watterveilt, Belgium. They had never been to the outside world or breathed fresh air. Their complexions of wonder were evident of that.
Roxy bolted to a near by tree, were an umbrella leaned on the trunk. Roxy opened the umbrella and pressed multiple times on the screen or inside roof of the umbrella, while she ran back to Eggsy's side. The two of them used one umbrella to take out thirty of Radcliffe's men. Back to back they used the umbrella to shield them, hit for them, fire for them, and zap for them, multiple assailants.
As they leaned on each other for support after their victory the sound of a helicopter came from above. The extraction team had arrived, and with two kingsman issue helicopters. A team of child specialists and Interpol agents came rushing out after the copters touched down.
The baby in Eggsy's arms was whaling uncontrollably loud, him and Roxy came to notice. Roxy tried to shush it, and smile it back to quiet, but not until Eggsy took him aside to rock him and sing to him, did he quiet down.
"His name's Lee. Take good care of him." Eggsy said as he handed the baby boy over to the child specialist.
"Foura?" Roxy said as she approached 24, the young girl. "I want to thank you for your help today."
To this Foura just stared blankly.
"Sweetheart, I'm saying thank you, to which you'd reply you're welcome or my pleasure."
"Which means?"
"You're happy that you did do what you did that I'm thanking you for." Roxy smiled, then handed the little girl the umbrella. "You hold on to this, cuz about twelve years from now I'm going to want it back."
"Okay. And... what is your number- er name?"
"It's Roxy."
"Roxy, tell your best mate thank you for me."
Roxy smiled, they only knew her as Eggsy's best mate. "I will. And I know he'd say that it was his pleasure to do so back."
"Really?" Foura smiled.
"Yeah. I know my best mate well."
As children filed into one of copters, Roxy and Eggsy filed into the other. They sat down in the back seat, as the pilot shafted their corse. There was silence, and heavy breathing, as well as water drinking that followed.
Roxy found a first aid med pack behind the first class liquor cabinet. She began stitching up Eggsy's singular stab wound and cleaning his other wounds. He stopped her, insisting without words, that she was the one that needed the attention. He began cleaning her multiple stab wounds and dressing her cuts and bruises.
Eggsy was quiet, shockingly quiet however. The last time they had spoken was in a cell where they were about to be forced to do something neither of them wanted to be forced into. Then the last interaction they had right after they kissed for the camera, was when Roxy whispered a comforting word in his hear as he drifted off, and as she placed the revival capsule in his mouth. Much had happened since that encounter, for the both of them.
Roxy eyed Eggsy curiously, his eyes were redder than she had ever seen them. He had been crying recently, or trying not too. "Is the hydrogen peroxide messing with your eyes again?"
"Yeah. Sure Rox."
Roxy smiled, "You can't fool me Eggsy. Not ever. You'll always be that same dork I knew from boot camp. The sweet guy who couldn't bring himself to shoot a dog."
"And what does that make you? A cold hearted smart-Alec who's doesn't give a damn?"
"No. That makes me a compelling, single, and mysterious woman. Have you not read any of the recent scripts out there? This is how 'tough' woman are portrayed in cinema these days."
Eggsy smiled, though his eyes seemed to still have that unidentifiable sadness about them.
"Tell me Eggs, why were you crying?"
He took a long breath in. The kind of long breath he always took before he started to speak honestly. Something he only ever did when in the presence of Roxanne, or the dearly departed Harry Heart. "It was... It was something I saw in the children... that's all I'll say."
Roxy shook her head in understanding. She had an idea of what it was that he saw or came to realize holding that babe in his arms. She had felt something break within her when she watched from a distance as he let his large arms delicately handed over that baby boy to the Kingsman child specialist on the other plane. He had looked so devastated after parting with him, that Roxy had to make a double take to make sure that it was indeed Eggsy who was standing there looking like a grieving young father.
They just sat there, saying nothing, for a good twenty minutes before Eggsy turned to her.
He inched closer so that only a small bit of air was between their two faces. He opened his mouth to speak, but Roxy could see in his face what it was about.
"I'm just another princess aren't I?" Roxy asked with a mocking tone. Though she was prying at something he had done and an anger that had awoken in her. She just had to know.
Eggsy became confused. "What in bloody- Rox, you're not-"
"What do you mean? Every girl dreams of being a princess." She said blankly. They both knew were she was getting on about at this point in time. She was referring to the Valentine op that started the whole thing.
He had slept with a princess captive right after he killed Valentine, stopping the tech that was literally making people tear each other apart.
"I regret it okay. I'll have you know-"
"Sure," she cut in, "like you regretted the last ten."
"There haven't been any others Rox. I swear to you-"
"So just a princess. You just take advantage of the one and you're a saint."
"No. it's not like that. I mean it felt damn good in the moment- I was a stupid kid. Things happen..."
"Things happen to everyone. Things like was waiting hours out in the blooming tundra while you got cozy with Scandinavian royalty. Merlin retold the story too many times for me to forget why you were late." Roxy shook her head, and turned away from Eggsy.
"Yeah sure, you're right. We shouldn't have left you out there. Though, you did sign up to be a kingsman. You were the only kingsman among us, and now you're complaining that you were cold!"
"So you're saying I should've just been professional on the inside too, while my fellow peers were being all sorts of unprofessional."
Eggsy scoffed, "I had just saved the world-"
"We had just saved the world." Roxy cut in. "Who had to talk your mother through prevention steps to keep her from cutting open your sister? That's right, not you."
Eggsy couldn't move his lips. She was right. He had forgotten about her and everyone else, right after he had saved world with their help. He was feeling himself too much in that moment, that he forgot about everyone else. He had been trying to make up for that and move on ever since. It was also so awkward every time he saw that Swedish dignitary-princess on tv.
Then it hit him, Roxy wasn't mad as she was jealous. There was something between them that she had never confirmed, and this proved that she couldn't deny it either. Thus it made Eggsy feel even more terrible for his past actions.
"I'm sorry," he said softly.
Roxy scoffed.
"No. I am sorry. Truly. After we got you I felt such a punch in the gut when I saw your face of disappointment. You had counted on me to have your back, and I let you down. I forgot something too. That I'm better than this. We're better than this. Humanity I mean. We're not animals. We're not controlled by our desires. We're human, in control, and so much more because of that. Contrary to what Radcliffe says. Though I'd rather have disappointed you than lost you. You're too good of a friend to me Rox."
"Stop it Eggsy. I know what you're trying to do..."
"Trying to? It's called reason. I am confessing my love for you, Roxanne. Reasonably that is. The way you'd have it. Or at least, I was trying too. I've been in love with you for some time now. Just too much of a arse to say anything about it." The sweat on Eggsy's temple became more evident to Roxy as he took in another deep breath. "I've held the deepest admiration for you Rox. From the moment we first met..."
"Don't even Eggsy. I know you. Better than anyone. And you know me better than anyone. What you're saying is an insult. It's an insult to our friendship and partnership. Everything we've done. I care for you too much Eggsy..."
"Not an insult. I'd never insult your or us. I have too much respect for you."
"But not enough respect for yourself." She cut in, her eyes honest as ever, like she could see straight through him. As always, she was right.
"Rox-"
"No." Roxy shook her head in acceptance. "Eggsy, don't apologize. Just stop." She pinched her temple and sighed. "You're too good of a man you know? A true gentlemen, even back when Charlie and those literal losers called you a pleb."
"Which I am. A loser as well. You won the spot."
"True... though you've always been a good friend. My best mate. You've always let me in and I've always pushed you away. I should be sorry for that. You see Eggsy I think I'm just as much in love with you as I am scared of admitting it. Which is a lot. I'll have you know."
Eggsy smirked and took her face into his hands in an attempt to kiss her, which she blocked.
"Stop Eggsy. We can't. It'd be lie if I told you I never think of us as 'us'. That is frankly the only way I think of the two of us. But we're partners, kingsman agents, best mates. If we're to do this, if we can do this, you realize there's no more 'us' in missions together. There can't be room for error-"
"You're scared it won't work out, aren't you?"
"Yes. But most of all I am scared of losing you. That and professionalism. I'm afraid of losing that too."
Eggsy shook his head to agree that professionalism could be lost to them if they didn't proceed carefully. "You know, I don't give a damn about professionalism actually."
"I know that Eggsy." She sighed heavily, then her fingers became intertwined with Eggsy's.
"You know, Radcliffe wasn't wrong. About us having the capability to create the near perfect child... you see the reason I was cryin, was because that baby I held... I held him for too long frankly. He reminded me of holding my sister, and he brought me to the realization that I won't ever be a father. I'll never have that."
"Why would you say that?" Roxy asked.
"It's just, I'll always want to- and not want to. I wouldn't ever put my son or child through what my dad put me through. Him dying on me like that. I love kingsman but I'll never forgive it for that."
"I see." She paused for some time. "Eggsy, you realize that if this works, between us, it'll get serious. That's just the only place we can go from here. I'm saying it now, because you should know, I want kids. Not because I want to be better than my abusive mother, or more present than my dead father, just because that's what I want. Don't let anything get in the way of what you want Eggs. Especially not the past."
Eggsy leaned over and, instead of kissing her, took her to his arms. They just sat there leaning and holding onto each other till the helicopter touched down. There were somethings left unspoken, though there always were things left unspoken between Eggsy and Roxy.