Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoy!

Today is my birthday...consider this your goody bag for coming to my party lol!

The Sweet and The Sour

On the way home from the shop Eggsy made it very, very clear to Harry and his uncle that while they were allowed to treat Daisy once in a while they were NOT to go out and buy her a whole new wardrobe too. Rachel had given him plenty for her already, and had promised more where that came from as Daisy continued to grow. Which she'd be doing a lot of. Which was why it would be bloody stupid of them to spend thousands of pounds buying her clothes she wouldn't fit into after a couple of months. If they even lasted that long. Not to fucking mention how hard kids were on clothes to begin with. Even once she leveled out a bit when it came to the whole growing thing she wouldn't need no fancy clothes cept for special occasions. If she was half as hard on her clothes as he'd been most of em would end up as rags anyway.

Not being an idiot, Eggsy could tell both Harry and Taron were thinking that odds were his clothes had only been a few steps up from rags to begin with. And while the majority of them hadn't been that bad-well he was just glad they both bit their tongues in favor of bargaining with him as to just how many outfits they were allowed to buy Daisy in the future.

No surprise, Uncle Taron was eager to dress her up like the little princess he thought she was. Which was cute, yeah, but also impractical as hell. Not to mention a little optimistic seeing as she was still drooling quite a bit.

Also cue Uncle Taron admitting that he might have went online and bought a few outfits for her already.

"How many's a few?"

"I'm not entirely sure, actually. I was on a roll."

Bloody hell.

"On the A side...you can look at it as me buying for myself, Addy, and William, technically. The latter will probably just insist on contributing to her college fund or something equally boring and expected. The man has no imagination or fashion sense."

"He's been dressed pretty damn spiffy all the times I've seen im."

"Yes, but have you ever seen him dressed to his full potential? I think not. The man wouldn't know a jewel tone if I smacked him upside the head with it."

"Ow would ya smack someone upside the ead with a color?" Eggsy wanted to know.

"They're called paint swatches, Sweetie."

"Wot now?" Eggsy looked over at Harry for clarification.

"They're sticks of paper showing paint colors in progressively lighter or darker shades. People can use them to decide on the right color to paint their walls. They also sometimes come in fans that you could, presumably, hit someone upside the head with. Not that it would do any damage."

"You could get a papercut." Uncle Taron pointed out cheekily.

"Highly unlikely." Was Harry's dry response to that.

"Oh, right. I've seen them before. They're a crock. Know a girl who used one of them ta pick a color for her room, lilac it was supposed ta be. Ended up near ta pink. Bout cried her bloody eyes out. Hated the color."

Uncle Taron shook his head over that. "Poor girl. Did her parents let her paint over it again?"

"Couldn't afford to. But she was a bright one-she just plastered her walls full of posters and such. Worked well enough."

"You can paint or even redecorate your room however you like, by the way. If I haven't mentioned that already."

"Ya have, no worries. And it's fine the way it is. I ain't fussy bout that sort of thing. Less ya want ta change somethin, Harry." He cared way more about Harry wanting to be in his bedroom than what said bedroom looked like. For obvious reasons.

Harry chuckled and assured him that he thought his room was lovely.

"Like yours best."

Uncle Taron laughed at them and their adorableness, then started rambling on about the various posters that had decorated his own walls when he was a teenager. Eggsy was going to have to Google the shit out of the names being thrown around, especially since Harry was adding some of this own.

And of course Jeremy Irons had always been sexy. Was there ever any doubt? The voice alone...though Alan Rickman's was still sexier.

This spiked a deep discussion on the brilliance of both actors, which Eggsy was happy to join in. Especially since it meant the older two men also started planning a movie night with him because apparently there were some gaps in his movie knowledge that couldn't be allowed to stand.

All good. Just listening to Rickman speak had never been a hardship. Fucking loss to the world, he was.

Anyways, they were deep into a discussion about what brilliant casting it had been to cast Irons as Rickman's brother in the 'Die Hard' series when the car indicated an incoming call.

"Huh. It's from Addy. If he's calling us willingly something must be up. Or he's bum dialed me again."

Eggsy's uncle accepted the call from his younger brother. "All right then, Addy?"

"Been worse. Thought I'd save myself one of your lectures and tell you to ignore the smells at the front gate."

"Smells?" Uncle Taron repeated, his puzzlement plain in his voice. "What did you do?"

"I did fuck all." Was Addison's sarcastic reply. "We had some visitors shortly after you lot left. Left us a 'present'. So like I said, I figured on leaving what's left there, let the rain we're expecting some time tonight wash it away for us."

"Wash what away?"

Damn, Eggsy had never heard his uncle's voice go that cold. That was Uncle Will level deep freeze.

"Blood, guts, bit of fur, maybe. The bastards found themselves a regular wolf that looks like Eggsy. They gutted it somewhere, then left the carcass for us to find."

"Jesus." Eggsy stomach turned just thinking about it.

Harry and his uncle expressed themselves with language one did not normally associate with gentlemen, but was totally deserved. Probably. Eggsy didn't know what his uncle was saying half the time since Taron was swearing in Russian too. But his tone said plenty.

"Fuckers. Was it still alive? When they gutted it." Harry asked once he and Uncle Taron had run out of expletives.

Christ, Eggsy hoped not.

"Alive but tranquillized. Could smell it, found the needle marks. Lack of defense wounds, no real signs of restraint-I'm guessing it wasn't aware enough to know what was done, so that's something. Took some samples from the body, just in case, so we'll know more soon enough if we want to. Used a common enough hunting blade on it. Fuckers knew what they were doing and who they were dealing with. Sealed up tight, couldn't even get any telling scents from the body."

"Wild or zoo?" Uncle Taron wanted to know.

"My money would be on wild given the lack of dental hygiene."

"Fuck. Where would ya find a wild wolf in England? In Europe for fuck sakes? We don't have them no more, right? We killed em all like in the Middle Ages or somethin." Not exactly his area of expertise, but Eggsy was pretty sure his idiot ancestors had hunted them into bloody extinction a long time ago. Along with plenty of other innocent, undeserving animals as well.

"There are actually European countries where they have yet to be hunted into extinction. Or I should say have been allowed to come back from extinction. Though the way we're going, environmental wise, who knows how long it will take for us to eradicate them again. I'm guessing it was a Eurasian. A grey wolf. Likely from one of the Scandinavian countries." Harry hypothesized. "Though North America is a possibility too."

"No. I think you're right, Hart." Uncle Addy. "Again, tests will tell. Got the body in the garage, figure let you two do a once over just in case I missed something then send it off to be burned."

"Burned?" Eggsy repeated.

"Why, you want it for a rug, Boy? It's in no-"

"NO! We should bury it!"

Uncle Taron glanced at him via the rearview mirror, Harry from the other side of Daisy's car seat as they both asked why.

"Cause it's more respectful! Weren't his fault-he was likely just minding his own when they took im. Least we can do is bury him; stead of im being sent ta some crematorium that will burn im up and then do fuck knows what with the ashes. He's a creature of nature, he should get ta rest there."

Guilt was making a churning, wrenching mess of his insides, and the more Eggsy thought about it the more determined he was to put his foot down about this. And to that affect he stated that he'd dig the hole himself. They wouldn't have to help him or nothing.

Of course there was just one flaw to that plan...

"Just...uh...I'll need a place ta put im?"

That made Uncle Addison snort loud enough to carry over the speakers. "He gets this from you, Taron."

"I know. Aren't we cute?"

"No. You're both pains in the arse."

And with that Addison hung up on them without so much as a 'Bye'. No surprise there.

"Well...they've made their first move then. Should have known he'd go the childish route."

"Childish?" What the fuck was childish about gutting some poor animal and dropping its body on someone's doorstep?

"Most serials start with animals. Practicing on creatures smaller and weaker than them."

Going out on a limb, Eggsy was pretty sure his uncle was implying that Chester King was a killer who couldn't progress from animals to people. Which...fair. And sorta boded well for im? Course a homicidal child with access to loads of weapons and highly trained soldiers...yeah, not good. Not fucking good at all.

More like nightmare inducing. Especially when he remembered-

"Ah, fuck! Harry's going to see im tomorrow! Harry, ya can't-"

"I have to meet him, Eggsy. And he won't try anything."

Eggsy might not have known Harry long in the grand scheme of things...but he knew a 'Argue with me about this and you might as well move to sleeping on the sofa' voice.

Coming from Harry it was both sobering and sexy as fuck.

"If he harms a hair on your head I reserve the right ta rip his off. Don't give a fuck ow old he is or 'important'."

"If he harms a hair on my head-I'll maul him."

"Fine."

"Now enough about that. How are you going to handle this, Taron?"

"You mean am I going to report it? Sure."

"Really?" Harry sounded surprised.

"Oh yeah. With pictures. The more graphic the better." The edge was back in Uncle Taron's voice. "He thinks we'll bury it-which according to Eggsy we technically are now-but he'll expect us to have too much 'pride' and 'ego' to admit we've been challenged like this. But fuck that. We're Egertons. We're born with more ego and pride than half of London."

Harry agreed, with obvious amusement, that that was true.

"So yeah, letting people know what he did...definitely. This isn't him playing his little games with people he doesn't like. He had an animal butchered and left at our den as a threat to my family." Taron growled very wolfishly. "And right now we need everyone possible against him when it comes time to confirm our new Alpha. This might make some uneasy at the very least. Especially when I start rumor spreading."

"Rumor spreading?" Eggsy had a feeling he was going to like whatever his uncle was scheming.

"No one fucks with my family. It's time I reminded King why. As for what I have planned...wait and see, my young padawan. Wait and see."

)

Not that Harry would ever wish away Daisy, of course not, but he rather wished that she and her car seat weren't acting as a barrier between him and Eggsy for the rest of the rather quiet ride back to the Egerton estate. He would have liked to have put his arm around the other man, or at the very least held Eggsy's hand. It would have made them both feel better. Or it would have until they'd arrived at their destination and were faced with the horrid task of going to look at a poor animal who had been murdered simply as a taunt and warning to them.

Of course Daisy couldn't be left alone once they got there and after some minor arguing between Taron and Eggsy it was agreed that the latter would go take his sleeping sister and his shopping bags upstairs and remain there for her protection.

Charmingly Eggsy felt he owed it to the wolf to see him, since he'd been killed because of Eggsy to the boy's way of thinking. Meanwhile Taron's sound logic was that Eggsy wouldn't be able to do anything but observe the body while he and Harry had training that meant they might be able to spot some clue that Addison had missed. If there was such a clue, then the animal hadn't died completely in vain.

And someone had to stay with Daisy.

Eggsy stomped up the stairs a little, but he went along with the plan once all the bags had been brought in and deposited in the front hallway.

"He is so much like me. It's like someone cloned me."

There were definite similarities. It was the difference in their environments and how they were brought up that had made the big differences. It would be interesting, Harry mused, to see if Eggsy became more like Taron as the years went by.

Also a little worrisome.

"Right. Let's get this nasty business taken care of, shall we?"

Face turning grim for an entirely other reason Harry nodded sharply and then proceeded to follow Taron through the hallways until they reached the one that led to a door between the house and the garage. He could smell the body already.

And Addison had obviously smelt them coming, the door opening before they reached it.

Wearing a black apron and elbow length rubber gloves that were stained with blood and other bodily fluids, Addison's expression was equally grim as he stood in the doorway.

"The boy's not with you?"

"With Daisy."

"Just as well. He wouldn't have the stomach for it. Pun not intended."

"Far be it for you to crack a joke, Addy."

Addison rolled his eyes and then moved off to one side, making enough room for them to walk past him without getting anything that was on him on themselves. Hopefully.

The table Addison had commandeered from somewhere was covered in plastic; the remains of the animal spread out on it. Harry's nose was already telling him plenty even before he moved to stand in front of the table, none of it good.

Poor thing.

"We could take it to a vet to be looked over-but I don't see the point." Addison growled as he joined them at the table. "King could have left his DNA all over it and it wouldn't fucking matter. Packs full of fucking sheep, believing whatever he tells them. Or for sale, a lot of them. So long as he isn't threatening them they aren't going to give a flying fuck about him fucking with us."

"I am very popular." Taron shot back, his eyes giving his lack of humor away.

"In your head." Addison shot back. "Point is King is going to wiggle out of this like the worm he is no matter what."

"Trailing slime behind him." Harry added, hands fisted at his sides.

"You're both right. So we take and use the pictures, that's it. Eggsy can bury him in the morning. Somewhere."

"Where the hell are we going to bury a wolf? The family plot?"

"Wouldn't be the first wolf buried there."

Addison was not amused. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"You need a list?"

"No."

Very much used to his brother's moodiness by now-though Harry bet it had taken a couple decades to build up the sort of immunity Taron seemed to have-Taron fluttered his eyelashes at Addison.

"I know you've taken a lot of blows to the head, Brother Dearest. I know I've delivered plenty of them." A pause for emphasis. "Still...I would hope you remember where we live. As in the size of our family estate. I think we can find some place to put the poor beastie."

"Fine."

"Right. Harry, we've got this. Go distract Eggsy from feeling shitty about this. I think you're up to the task."

He wasn't going to dignify that with an answer. Instead he settled for telling the two Egertons good night and then headed back the way he'd come.

Heading upstairs Harry went first to the nursery that was in the process of being set up for Daisy's use. She wasn't there, no surprise. He'd already figured that Eggsy would want her close to him tonight. He rather did as well.

Eggsy's room was only a short distance away, Harry knocking softly before entering because, well, just because.

He was old school. So sue him.

Stepping inside Harry's gaze automatically went towards the bed, his gaze softening as he took in the sight of Eggsy lying there, propped up by his pillows. Daisy was dressed in one of her fleece onesies, fast asleep and drooling a little bit on her brother's bare chest. Eggsy had one arm curved beneath her bottom, the other was stroking her back as he smiled over at Harry.

"Knocking. Really?"

"A gentleman knocks."

"Good ta know." A cocky grin, though there were still some shadows in Eggsy's eyes. "Ya joining us?"

"With pleasure."