"Merlin, I want you to do me a favor." Harry said slowly into the phone "It's going to be very difficult for you. I want you to come to my house, and I want you to act as if everything is completely normal for one night. After that, I swear to you that I'll explain. But you must wait until morning. Is that understood?"

Merlin was quiet on the other end of the line, and Harry could hear him narrowing his eyes.

"Family reunion difficult, or Thailand '89 difficult?"

Harry managed to both flinch and smirk at the mention - that particular mission had included, not exclusively: roughly ten miles of leather, molten gold fountains, a donkey in a fetching dress, and far too much glow in the dark paint. It cheered him, though he expected Merlin would be furious with him after this.

"Move down the scale just a bit."

"Just a bit?" Merlin sighed "Alright. But I will hold you to that explanation."

"Wonderful. Be here at five o'clock sharp, bring Roxy," He hung up before Merlin could frown at him through the phone.

It was early in the day still, but Harry had come home in order to get things ready. The signs that Eggsy had returned were there - the wrong nightclothes in the hamper, a few extra dishes in the sink, and so on, but it was Tuesday, so he wasn't home.

Eggsy wasn't home because somehow there was a next time with Tommy and Bennett. And a time after that, and a time after that, until it became a regular Tuesday afternoon tradition that Eggsy would come over to the Bennett-and-Judd household for brunch, and flirt shamelessly with Tommy, and eventually he was even on a first-name basis with Guy.

That day was no exception, and while Harry didn't know where Eggsy was, he intended to take full advantage of the convenient distraction.

Eggsy, meanwhile, had once again been roped into being a free handy-man.

"You bring this on yourself, you know," Guy said, watching him apply the final coat of paint to their porch railing. A porch that Eggsy himself had built. "If you keep showing up, he'll keep finding things for you to do."

Eggsy set the paintbrush down and gave the railing a once-over for any spots he might have missed. "A gentleman helps where he can." Eggsy replied airily, then smirked "Besides, Tommy would be heartbroken if I stopped coming. I'm well on my way to stealing him away from you."

That earned him a glower, and as if on cue Tommy puttered out with a pitcher of lemonade.

"Guy stop glaring at Eggsy, he's been nice enough to build us a - Eggsy what on earth have you done to yourself?"

Eggsy blinked, then glanced down. Oh yeah, he thought. He knew better than to wear a suit when he came over now, but today it was hot and the sun was out, so he'd opted to forgo a shirt altogether. Guy hadn't even blinked at the roadmap of scars on Eggsy's skin, but they would probably be jarring to a civilian.

He shrugged "saved the world a few times."

He'd meant it to be the sort of truth that any sane person would laugh off as a good joke, but Tommy probably couldn't still be with Guy and be considered entirely sane. He stared at Eggsy for a good minute, blinking, before making an aborted move to give Guy the same treatment. Then, suddenly, he snapped out of it with a frustrated sigh and shoved a frigid glass of lemonade into Eggsy's chest. Eggsy yelped and grabbed the offending glass to yank it away.

"Well, next time consider dodging. Clearly you could stand to learn how."

Eggsy had to concede his point, since a man born in the early nineteen hundreds had just gotten the jump on him. Still, he was grinning as Tommy handed off another glass to Guy, scolding him for being outside in the sun for too long.

"He's just getting a good look at the competition," Eggsy called, enjoying Guy's predictable glare and Tommy's signature eyeroll.

"What would Harry even do if you succeeded in wooing me?" Tommy asked, settling next to Guy who took his hand possessively.

Eggsy scratched his chin "Well, I doubt he could resist you either. We'll have a tri-generational polyamorous relationship. It'll be grand."

"Tri-generational?" Tommy raised his eyebrows.

"Harry's in his fifties." Guy supplied.

"You've a type, then, Eggsy?"

Eggsy winked "I have two types, demanding girls and posh boys. Usually one of those categories has a much higher chance of being decent people," he smirked "So I get really interested when I find the rare decent posh bloke."

Tommy, who had apparently hoped to get the upper hand for once, sighed in defeat.

"Drink your lemonade," he said, and took his own advice.

Eggsy obeyed, then cleaned up the paint cans and donned his old t-shirt again.

"Deck's all finished. You got guys comin' to fix the furnace, yeah? 'S a bit outside my skill set."

"Yes, they'll be here Monday," Tommy replied "Thank you for your help, Eggsy. I've meant to have this done for years."

"Not a problem, gov. It's about time I head back. See you next Tuesday?"

"If we must," Guy drawled, but he was smiling a bit. Tommy jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow anyway.

"You're always welcome here, Eggsy," Tommy said with much more warmth. Eggsy waved and headed off down the road. He missed it when Tommy leaned into Guy's side and asked "Guy, who is he?"

Guy huffed, but had already melted against him "He comes over to an elderly couple's house once a week to do housework for them. You still thought he was one of the bad guys?"

They watched him go, and eventually, as he faded from view, Guy continued "Tommy, I wanted to ask you something…"

Eggsy was fucking glad he'd left his gun back in the first universe this time, because the instant he opened the door to his house he heard a loud noise and got a face full of confetti. Fuck, he thought, blinking rapidly and trying to calm his racing heartbeat, maybe Emma was onto something with the PTSD thing.

"Surprise!" Roxy crowed, dragging him inside "Happy birthday, Eggsy!"

Eggsy kept blinking in confusion. It was his birthday. He'd forgotten his own birthday. Shit, he was a sad fucker, wasn't he?

"Are you alright?" Roxy asked, jabbing him in the side.

"Yeah..." he muttered "just spent all day thinkin' no one remembered, is all. Was heartbroken. You'd better make this up to me."

Roxy rolled her eyes "You haven't been home, you git. How would you know if we'd forgotten?"

"My Facebook feed was empty."

"Cry me a river. Come on, Merlin made scones."

"Merlin?" Eggsy tensed, but the next second he was dragged into the living room. Merlin was there of course, with a look on his face that promised all bets were hereby off, but so were his mum and Daisy, and Jamal and Ryan were bickering in the kitchen, and Harry was close to where they'd entered, waiting for him with a smile.

"Welcome home, Darling." Harry greeted as he usually did, snatching him out of Roxy's grip to kiss the corner of his mouth "Happy birthday."

Fuck, he thought, and found himself grinning. He really loved this life. He caught the back of Harry's neck with one hand and drew him down into another, sweeter kiss.

"Thanks love," he said when he pulled back, setting their foreheads together briefly, knocking into Harry's glasses as he did.

Harry's gaze was warm and adoring. Eggsy could never get enough of it. After a few seconds it flicked to his clothes curiously.

"What have you been up to?"

"Painting a deck," he chuckled when Harry's brow furrowed, but their conversation was interrupted before he could ask anything further.

"You two are disgusting," Roxy declared, though she marched over to Merlin and tucked herself into his side as though it was all one long coincidence, and he just happened to be exactly where she wanted to sit on the sofa. Another coincidence followed when Merlin's arm fell from the back of the couch to her shoulders. Posh wankers, Eggsy thought. Merlin caught him looking and raised one eyebrow in a way that Eggsy might describe as threatening.

"Eggsy," Merlin greeted calmly.

"Hey Merlin," he said boldly, and Harry's arm tightened briefly around his waist. "I heard you made me scones."

He and Merlin stared each other down another few seconds, Harry watching them quizzically, before Daisy had had enough of all this. She vaulted up from her spot on the floor and flung her arms around his waist in greeting.

"Eggsy!" she cried happily "Happy birthday!"

Eggsy laughed and bent to hug her back. He could tell she was already wired from the energy of the room and the promise of cake.

"Hello Dais."

"Oi! Here's the old man," Jamal leaned on the door jamb to the kitchen, grinning.

"Shouldn't you be in Ireland?" Eggsy threw back.

"You gonna ask us that every year?" Ryan called from behind him "You know us and the gov' have an arrangement. Can we eat all this food now or what?"

'The Gov,' Eggsy assumed, pressed another smiling kiss to his temple before striding off for the kitchen.

And just like that, Eggsy was home.

There were enough snacks brought out to feed about double the houses' occupants, and Merlin – he was sure it was Merlin, which raised some questions in his mind about every reflective surface he'd ever encountered in relation to Kingsman - put on My Fair Lady. It was the tamest birthday he'd ever had. His thirtieth had been spent in the Himalayas with Agent Kay, who'd had the audacity to be delirious with fever; his twenty-ninth at a rooftop party in Dubai, and so on back until before Kingsman, when he either passed them sullen or blackout drunk. After three hours of wholesome musical, watching in wonder as Roxanne and Harry and even Merlin chatted amiably with Jamal, Ryan and his mum - his two worlds colliding - he had to say it was the best, too.

"I'd say it's about time for Dinner," Harry said, levering himself up from his chair. He turned to Eggsy, who'd perched on the armrest beside him when it became apparent that it would be the only available spot nearby. He was thankful that the other him had set up a clingy precedent, which he must have, seeing as no one had questioned his choice of seats. "Why don't you go get cleaned up while we set the places?"

Eggsy glanced down at himself - he'd forgotten he was still in his paint-stained jeans and the oldest t-shirt in his closet.

"Yeah bruv, seriously, you stink," Ryan tacked on.

Eggsy rolled his eyes and made a point to fling the shirt at Ryan when he went for the stairs. He intended to take no time at all getting changed, but he gets stuck when he opens the door to his and Harry's bedroom.

And it was stupid. It was so stupid, but Harry'd apparently decided to clean for once in his life and the sight of the clear bedside table was a lance of ice in Eggsy's heart, because it was too much like the one he'd see in the morning. The ice only spread, stealing away the pleasant warmth that had seeped into his bones over the last few hours. He could still hear everyone down stairs, talking and laughing, nothing like the bunch of phantoms they in fact should be. While the room was clean, it was lived-in clean; Harry's things were somewhat organized but still scattered about and taking up space. Hell, the room smelled like him. But he couldn't deny the fact that, for him, this would all be gone in a few hours. He'd wake up cold, tucked to his of the bed side with the other untouched and made up.

He sat down heavily on it then, suddenly unable to hold himself. Ungrateful as it made him feel, for the first time he let himself hate his wretched situation, and that seemed to be the key to the lockbox he'd successfully cemented shut years ago that kept him from feeling ruined by the grief he carried around in his heart.

He could still hear that fucking gunshot ring in his ears sometimes, the one that stole Harry away and set the stage for his life. The tragedy of Eggsy Unwin. He brought his hands up and pressed them to his burning eyes. It was agony to spend twenty-four of every forty-eight hours knowing Harry was nowhere.

But it wasn't just him that was righting the sinking ship that was Eggsy's life. Daisy gave him hope for the future, his little baby sister who he got to watch grow and who saw the world's beauty the way Eggsy hadn't since he was six himself. His mum kept him grounded, showed him that he could come back from where he'd been as she did. Jamal and Ryan reminded him of who he was and who he wanted to be. Roxy kept him joking, kept him grinning, and kept him on his toes. Merlin made him careful so he could keep it all together. Tommy and Guy factored in even - they were the dream, he supposed, a goal so far in the future that he could reach forever.

He realized he'd taken too long to pull himself together when he heard the door click open.

"Fuck." Eggsy muttered even as Harry's footsteps paused, wiping at his eyes as surreptitiously as he could. It was no use.

"Darling? What's wrong?"

"Nothin' Harry. Everything's perfect." Eggsy glanced up and tried to force a smile. He had a feeling he failed, which was too bad because it wasn't a lie. Everything was perfect just then. Harry hovered, worry etched into his features, before closing the door and settling beside Eggsy on the bed.

"Is it?" he asked, innocuous, and placed a careful hand on Eggsy's damp cheek.

"'M sorry, I'm bein' stupid," he sighed.

"I've never known that to be the case with you," Harry leaned close, and Eggsy drank in the sight of him. He'd aged in the last five years, same as Eggsy, there were more lines on his face, made him look all distinguished. The greying at his temples had spread in an unruly fashion to salt the rest of his rich brown hair. But his eyes were sharp, unchanged from the first day they'd met, and warm, concerned, and fuck, Eggsy loved him.

He'd promised himself he'd tell Harry everything, but the words gummed up in his throat. It was all right there, just out of his reach, waiting to be said, but he couldn't get the whole story out, not now.

In place of the whole awful tale he dropped his elbows onto his knees and said quietly, like a confession "I don't want to go to sleep."

And that was the heart of it, wasn't it? He wanted this to be his life. He was sick of being torn between both worlds, sick of waking up every morning and being reminded what it felt like to have nothing. It was enough at first, having anything at all. Now, with the distant voices of everyone he cared about drifting up from downstairs, the thought of going back filled him with dread.

Harry's thumb glided across his cheekbone, drawing him from his thoughts. It was so light a touch that Eggsy glanced up and when he did he found himself caught by the strange look in Harry's eyes.

"...where do you go?" he asked so quietly that Eggsy barely heard him.

Eggsy's eyes went wide. For a terrible second he was in a half-forgotten memory of the moment before the worlds collided and he slipped between them, a voice in his ear whispering 'stay,' and another followed of Tommy sitting in his kitchen looking lost into his tea.

He knew.

Harry knew damn well that something was wrong, and he hadn't called Eggsy out on it either. An impossible hope sparked in his chest - maybe, just maybe, Harry didn't want to lose him either. Then Harry was talking again, fast, the tension that suddenly sang in the air driving him to explain. "You're always gone in the morning, and I never wake up when you leave."

Harry looked so worried that it broke Eggsy's heart all over again.

Hell, he thought, I go back to hell.

"I'm not him."

It slipped out unbidden, his voice cracking on the last syllable. It wasn't an answer to Harry's question, it wasn't even close to how he'd meant to say it, but once he did he knew it was true. He was about to say more, start apologizing, but then Harry was gathering him close and shushing him gently.

"Har-"

"I know," he whispered, cutting him off soundly.

Eggsy's eyes burned anew. He raised his hands to hang on to Harry and hoped he'd never have to let go. Beneath the miserable feeling in his chest at the thought of going back, and even of staying, though it was less, in Harry's arms as an imposter, a hope bloomed in his chest. If Harry knew - really knew, that he wasn't the Eggsy who was gone, and hadn't thrown him out, then maybe, just maybe, he could stay, and they could find a future together.

"I'll tell you everything, I swear, just - not today, Harry. Please," he pressed the words into Harry's throat, a plea and a promise at once.

Harry nodded slightly, then cupped Eggsy's chin in one warm palm to tilt his face up for a kiss. There was a fear in Eggsy's heart still, dull and throbbing and ever-present, brought to the forefront of his mind now, that drove him to fit closer, to curl his fingers into Harry's shirt with needy abandon. Harry read him like an open book.

Keeping close, Harry pushed him back onto the mattress, one arm still under him while his other hand trailed down his chest.

"Is this alright?" He wasn't asking about what they were doing, Eggsy could tell by the quiet weight of his words – he was asking about everything, about them being together.

"Yes, Harry," he dragged Harry down again to seize his lips "'S long as you don't mind."

Rather than respond with words, Harry kissed his forehead. When he looked at Eggsy again all the teetering fear that had been in his eyes was gone, tucked away again and replaced with the sort of bland consideration Eggsy had learned to associate with mischief.

"We'll have to be quick."

Eggsy made a point to grind against Harry's thigh where it was pressed between his legs "You're always takin' shots at my stamina."

Harry huffed. He pushed himself up just enough to shrug off his shirt and Eggsy quickly undid his jeans before he caught Harry's raised eyebrow at him. He followed Harry's gaze to a smear of paint on his ribs.

"What? It was hot as fuck today."

Harry leaned back down so their bare skin touched and Eggsy sighed at the contact. He wanted more though, and Harry seemed willing to provide. His hands came to Eggsy's hips and took hold of the waistband of his trousers and pants, intentions clear.

"Should I be jealous?" he mused.

Eggsy laughed "I'd like to see the man who could beat you out, Harry. 'Sides, he's a hundred years old."

Harry paused at this, something dangerous shining in the depths of his eyes "There aren't many people that old in the world," Harry said with false levity.

"Don't go murdering anyone who sees me without a shirt," Eggsy laughed, and Harry seemed content to let it go. He pushed Eggsy's clothes off, moving away again to discard them on the floor and do away with his own trousers and pants much more respectfully. Then he was back, and Eggsy arched up to press them together more completely. They were both hard, but Eggsy's goal for once wasn't to get off, just to be as close as humanly possible. He really was starting to get old, he figured.

"Thought we had to be quick." He teased after Harry spent a good few minutes holding him close and kissing him. With a put-upon sigh Harry reached for the nightstand and came back with the well-used tube of lube.

They were quick after that, so when Harry drew Eggsy's legs up and pushed in it was too soon and Eggsy was impossibly glad. He would feel this all day tomorrow, tangible proof of a bright and impossible world.

"Eggsy-"

"Don't stop." Eggsy gasped and dug his knees into Harry's sides for emphasis. Blessedly, Harry listened. He took Eggsy in hand and set a careful but deep pace, bent as close as he could comfortably get, which was pretty close given Eggsy's well-maintained flexibility. Eggsy came suddenly on a delicate kiss, and Harry followed him like he'd just been waiting for Eggsy the whole time. Eggsy wished briefly in the afterglow that they had time to lay wrapped around each other in in bed all evening, but then Harry was pulling away, frowning, most likely at the relative quiet in the house.

A quick rinse in the shower while Harry straightened his clothes was all he could afford before they hurried back downstairs. He stepped off the landing moderately sure that he neither was loud nor looked well shagged; only to have his hopes crushed when everyone in the room broke out into spontaneous applause. Eggsy buried his face in his hands; Harry coughed beside him and glided off towards the dining room.

"So, who topped?" Jamal asked.

"Please don't answer him." Merlin drawled.

"Jamal, you're blind if you can't tell by lookin' at 'em." Ryan turned his attention to Eggsy, an earnest expression pulling his face into unfamiliar contortions "Eggsy, there's somethin' I just gotta know. It's been killin' me," the earnesty cracked right down the middle into a sly grin "Do you call him daddy?"

"Ryan, there is a child present." Michelle scolded, but it felt like a set-up.

It was a set-up.

"Yeah, and Daisy shouldn't hear this either," Jamal added smoothly.

Ryan and Jamal high-fived while Eggsy sighed in defeat. Roxy elbowed him gently during the laughter that followed.

"Are you alright?" she asked, making a surreptitious gesture to his eyes.

Eggsy rubbed his cheek, hoping his eyes weren't red enough for anyone else to notice "Oh, 's nothin'," at her skeptical look he added "look, I'm just really happy, ok?"

Her look changed to 'Roxy on a case', which wasn't better really, but she nudged him again with a muttered "sap," and let the matter lie.

His mum and Daisy went home first after they finished the cake, then Jamal and Ryan had to catch a late train, and then it was just the Kingsmen left. J.B. was asleep on his lap, Eggsy well into defeating his tolerance for beer, when he found himself wishing he knew how he and Harry started. He'd spent hours staring at pictures of the two of them - Harry and the other Eggsy - from the intervening years after his own Harry died and their lives branched off, but none of them hinted about the tipping point. This train of thought gave him a fit of inspiration, however.

"Oi, tell us again how you and Merlin got together."

Roxy goggled at him for a second "Really Eggsy? Do you know how many times I've had to tell that story?"

"Yeah, but how often do you get a chance to tell the real one?" Eggsy tried to bat his eyelashes the way Harry did sometimes and mostly succeeded.

Roxy looked at Harry "How long did it take you to teach him that?" Harry shrugged and sipped his beer, and Roxy sighed "Fine, but only because you're right, and it's better with the explosions. I got a mission in Bolivia…"

Rocks formed in Eggsy's stomach, dragging him back down from his happy little cloud and pinning him cold and heavy to the couch. Bolivia. He swallowed and looked at the silvered scars on the backs of his fingers, all he got for two days digging in twisted rebar. He didn't need to listen as she rattled off the mission details - Emma'd made him go over it enough times that he had it memorized by now. It never felt like a revelation until it was Roxy's voice summing up the finer point, though.

"Made Valentine look humane, that man," she concluded "Anyway, Merlin's been a surly git for a few months, sends me off with barely a nod. I was sure I'd been too obvious in taking a shine to him, so I let it be. I get in, and the mission goes off without a hitch. And I mean picture-perfect. Too perfect. Needless to say, he had a fucking mole."

Eggsy knew that too, it took Merlin - his Merlin - all of three hours after Roxy went dark to find said mole and return with every single ounce of information that could be pulled from the man. He glanced at the wizard and found himself the subject of a frown. When Eggsy looked up he looked away though and took Roxy's hand like it was an absent thought. She glanced over and smiled at him anyway.

"So I get to the runway outside, and boom - everything just goes up, he's taken a page from V-day and its fireworks everywhere. He comes on over the PA system, sure he's won, says some truly awful James Bond villain line, and is so pleased with himself he never sees me coming when I crash the helicopter into the control tower where he's hiding." Roxy grinned "Merlin got the plan halted, and with him dead there was no restarting it. 'Course I got buried in the rubble of the compound. You know this next part better than me-"

"Oh, tell it anyway," Eggsy had been about to say the same, but Harry had beaten him to it. He stole a glance and found him smiling, no evidence that his insistence had been for Eggsy's benefit, but still - it had been.

Roxy laughed a bit "Fine. My best friend, his worst kept secret, and a certain tech wizard made such a fuss that Kingsman broke form and sent out an extraction team less than an hour later. Got me out just before I suffocated."

So Harry was what had done the trick. The tiebreaking vote when Merlin had called one without Eggsy so much as having to ask. Of course.

Roxy kept on, well enjoying herself now. She pushed the sleeve of her shirt up to reveal some truly impressive scarring "'Course, all the bones in my left arm are Merlin's handiwork. And Merlin, well, he'd done well until then, but he slipped up. Found him asleep beside my bed in the infirmary when I came to," now she smiled, and Merlin flushed almost imperceptibly beside her "I'm not an agent because I'm pretty. That was a neon sign if I'd ever seen one. The last clue to the reason behind our great and terrible wizard's attitude. So I woke him up and asked him to marry me."

Eggsy choked on air "What? Just like that?"

Roxy nodded sagely "It turns out I was very, very high. But I remembered, and I set about making him say yes."

Eggsy stole a glance at Merlin. He tried to piece together the other story from it all - Merlin's tireless work, the vote tipped in favor of tradition, his shoulders, sagged with guilt, in the days after they flew Roxy home in a body bag.

"You're one lucky bastard, Merlin," he said. Merlin's arm tightened around Roxy, but otherwise he looked the part of the tipsy and put-upon husband.

"She wasn't the only one who wined and dined," Merlin insisted.

Eggsy listened to the conversation go on around him and fingered the ring box he'd been half terrified Harry would notice earlier in the bedroom. The ring sat in his pocket most days, a plan formed and waiting to be brought to action, but he couldn't bring himself to ask for forever when he still felt himself an imposter to some degree and they hadn't aired out what was happening at all. Maybe not anymore. He wondered if they could go on like this, surviving off the happiness they gripped with both hands forever.

Eventually Roxy and Merlin retired to the guest room and Harry joined him on the couch.

"I should mention that Merlin has given me a mission," Harry said as he put another movie on. He seemed to have taken it to heart that Eggsy wouldn't willingly be going to sleep, and Eggsy couldn't have been more thankful. "I'll be leaving early tomorrow, assuming he still permits it."

He sat back on the sofa with a sigh, but Eggsy could see he was excited to go back into the field at last. Merlin must have finally deemed him unlikely to get himself killed, which was a relief.

"I'll be here when you get back," Eggsy promised.

He leaned on Harry as they watched Trading Places again - something in Eggsy wept with joy at having a set of movies that were theirs - and quite accidentally drifted off.

In the strange intervening moments that had been extending of late, the ones after Eggsy fell asleep when Harry wouldn't, and would hang on as tightly as he dared until he was forced into unconsciousness, he pressed a kiss to Eggsy's hair.

"The least you could do is take me with you," he whispered.

"What the fuck, Harry." Merlin said first thing the next morning when they found him alone on the couch.

"Is he gone, then?" Roxy asked.

Harry looked between them standing at base of the stairs and sighed, "Yes."