We Push and Pull Like a Magnet

Under normal circumstances, William would have been expected to stay behind to deal with the fallout of his father and aunt's deaths, not to mention the interrupted ceremony. Upon his father's death William had become the head of the King family and therefore acting Alpha of the Kingsman Pack until such time as the title could be officially bestowed on him or someone of the pack's choosing. That William should and would become their Alpha permanently didn't need to be expressed; it was the best outcome any of them could have hoped for. And while the Alphas from other packs were here, and he could technically be sworn in immediately, that was not William's chief concern at the moment. Nor could any decent man or woman blame him as he stood there with the man he apparently considered his mate in his arms, wounded and vulnerable. An Alpha should always put his pack before himself...but William King had been doing that for decades without once putting himself first. His obvious feelings for Taron Egerton made that clear.

He had earned the right to put himself and his mate first tonight.

So no one argued when William stated his intention to go with Taron and Rachel, requesting that Merlin remain behind and in charge in his stead. He also asked Addison to stay and ensure that Merlin was protected, and that the man's orders were followed to the letter. He even gave Addison leave to beat the shite out of anyone who caused problems.

No killing anyone unless he had to.

After the reveals of the night Merlin wasn't thrilled by the idea of being separated from his wife for even a short while, but he also knew why he was being asked. The trust and burden he was taking on for his Alpha's sake. So Merlin accepted his new Alpha's request after sharing a look with Harry that had Harry nodding his head in acknowledgement that he would look after Rachel until Merlin could return to her side.

William's request for Addison to stay would have seemed cruel to anyone who didn't know the man personally. Yes, it was his beloved older brother hurt and about to go into surgery-however he might deny the beloved part-but if Addison were to go along, he'd do nothing but act like a trapped animal in a small space, especially since he hadn't gotten the chance to tear into the ones responsible for his or his brother's injuries. This way he had things to take his mind off Taron and his sore back, with the additional possibility that he might still get to cause serious injury if anyone got out of line and thought to question Merlin.

Obviously well aware that Harry would be babysitting her Rachel told her assistants and fellow healers to stay behind to look after William's mother and other packmates who were in emotional distress over what they'd all just witnessed.

Harry wasn't going anywhere without Eggsy, and Eggsy wasn't about to let his mate or his injured uncle out of his sight, and so it was five of them that broke away from the crowds and sped walked in the direction of the two fully loaded ambulances allowed to park so close to ceremonial lands.

Normally there'd have just been the one, but obviously Rachel had prepared for more bloodshed than usual.

Jogging ahead Eggsy and Harry got the back of the ambulance open so that William could effortlessly leap in to settle Taron down on the stretcher bed, Rachel following after.

Closing the doors and securing them, Harry announced that he would drive and Eggsy didn't argue, knowing that Harry would know how to get them to Rachel's clinic the fastest. He did offer to hotwire the ambulance if needed though, since Rachel hadn't given them the keys.

Harry just shook his head as he headed for the driver's side, informing Eggsy that the keys would be in the ignition.

Once seated and buckled in Harry started the engine and off they went, Harry trusting that Rachel would alert him if they needed to go faster than he would take the roads normally. These were reinforced ambulances, designed to handle less than ideal terrain, but still...better safe than sorry the way this night was going.

Speaking of which...

"We'll discuss you knocking me down later."

"Yeah, I figured that."

The two shared a look, their thoughts about Eggsy's earlier actions to protect Harry shifting to thoughts about Taron protecting William. And why.

How William actually felt about Taron had been made clear. Everyone in the pack knew now. But how did Taron feel about William? And for how long on both sides?

One could argue that Taron risking his life to protect William said plenty, and to Harry it said a great deal more because he knew that Taron viewed Eggsy as his pup to care for and protect. Which meant that for Taron to leave Eggsy, even knowing that Harry was there to protect him...well that suggested that Taron's feelings for William ran very deep indeed.

But Taron was thirteen years older than William, so they hadn't attended schools at the same time or been in each other's peer groups. Taron had started traveling the world long before William came of age, and Harry was fairly confident that when Taron did come home his time spent in William's company would have been limited at best.

Next to non-existent, actually, the more Harry thought about it, given how their families felt about each other. So how and when had things changed, at least on William's side. And how had he kept it hidden all these years?

Unfortunately, those answers would have to wait until Taron woke up and might be willing to answer their questions. That being the case, Harry opted to ask Eggsy how he was doing.

The silence that greeted that statement was long and poignant enough that Harry was about to repeat the question with a great deal more concern in his voice when Eggsy answered.

"My mum's likely dead, ain't she?"

Oh. Oh fuck.

He hadn't even gone there, and he should have, Harry realized with a mix of horror and self-recrimination.

Amelia King probably hadn't hated her former daughter in law as much as she'd hated the male members of the King family, but not by much. She'd never, even when Lee had still been alive, hidden the fact that she hadn't thought Michelle was good enough for her son. She'd been civil enough when Lee was present, but when he wasn't-that she'd thought Michelle was gutter trash had been a secret to no one. Amelia would have likely killed her for marrying her son if she hadn't feared turning Lee against her if he ever found out.

But Lee had been dead a very long time, and Michelle wouldn't have stood a chance in hell against Amelia on her best day. Harry also couldn't imagine that Eggsy's mother's death had been quick, much less painless.

Harry wanted to lie, to try and offer Eggsy some hope that maybe Amelia had left Michelle alive in order to lessen the chances of her breakout from the clinic being reported before the ceremony...but he wasn't about to lie his mate and give him false hope. Amelia's hate and need for revenge against Michelle would have been too great.

So Harry nodded his head and agreed that yes, most likely Amelia had killed Eggsy's mother after Amelia had gotten all the information she could from her.

"I'm sorry, Eggsy."

"Daisy won't even remember her."

A blessing, in a way, Harry silently thought. "You'll tell her stories about her mother. She won't be forgotten."

Good stories. Happy stories that glossed over all the mistakes Michelle Unwin had made in her life.

Eggsy nodded, going quiet for another couple minutes before speaking again.

"If there is a heaven...she's with Dad now. She weren't ever happy, after she lost him. So...so she's happy now. And she knows I can take care of Daisy, that she won't ever want for anythin. That's something, right?"

Keeping his left hand on the steering wheel Harry stretched his right out to place his hand over Eggsy's, where it was clenched on top of the younger man's thigh.

"Yes. They're together now. And we will take the very best care of Daisy."

"Yeah."

The two of them lapsing into silence, Harry kept his hand over Eggsy's for the rest of the drive.

)

Once they arrived at the clinic Eggsy and Harry wound up in the waiting room while William insisted on going into the operating area with Rachel and Taron. Thankfully the bullet extraction didn't take that long since Taron's healing had been stalled by the poisonous metal, so he hadn't started to heal around the entrance wound and bullet. Once it was out Taron's natural, speedy healing ability was able to start working in no time, Rachel boosting that as well as insuring that Taron would remain unconscious for the next several hours to make sure he didn't do something stupid to impede that healing.

He was an Egerton, after all.

Eggsy and Harry were allowed to come in and see Taron after that; the older man's skin looked a little red around the edges of the bandages but that was normal according to Rachel. His body was just going into overdrive to burn out any infection. Otherwise, you'd never know he wasn't just sleeping. The head graze was already healed when Eggsy moved in to carefully check that out. It was just an angry red line barely visible through his uncle's hair.

"So, will he be good as new tomorrow?" Eggsy tried to joke while placing a hand over the back of Taron's, hopefully subtle as he checked his uncle's pulse, just for reassurance. It was a little fast, but it was strong, thank God.

For the timing being Eggsy was very determinedly compartmentalizing all thoughts about his mum, boxing them up and shoving them to the back of his mind until he had to face the truth. For now he couldn't think about how he was the reason she'd been in the clinic in the first place, and how his psycho gran wouldn't have made it a quick death.

He'd grieve and face reality about that later. For how he would let himself be relieved that at least his Uncle Taron was still alive and would soon be kicking up a fuss.

"I wouldn't say good as new, but he'll be up and about and acting like he is within the next ten hours or so." Rachel rolled her eyes for emphasis. "He'll be sore and weak for a few days, and probably cranky, but otherwise fine. He's always been a very fast healer, even for our kind."

"He'll rest and take it easy." William stated in a voice that suggested he was prepared to make sure of that.

Eggsy knew himself to be a terrible patient, and had no doubt whatsoever that his Uncle Addy was probably at least twenty times worse than him. So yeah...Eggsy had a feeling he was going to need all the help he could get getting Uncle Taron to stay in bed and chill for a few days at least.

Apparently thinking the same, Rachel wished him good luck with that.

Rather than admit that she had a point William pointedly turned his attention to studying Taron's face for signs of distress.

"I'm going to go clean up and give my husband a call. If you need me, get me. We'll keep him here for a couple of hours observation, just in case, and then you can take him home if he remains stable. He'll rest easier in his own bed."

Eggsy waited until Rachel had left the room before awkwardly stating that William was welcome to come home with them. To make sure Uncle Taron behaved himself once he woke up.

"He's never behaved himself a day in his bloody life."

That startled a laugh out of Eggsy, the short but happy sound echoing a little in the room, lightening the atmosphere a little.

"Well, he'll have me, Harry, Uncle Addy, and you harassing him, so between the four of us we'll manage. Somehow. Maybe bribe him with somethin?"

Eggsy's uncle's lips curved just a little. "You can guilt him into it. Possibly."

"I'll give it my best shot. Seems you might have a shot too, since he was willing ta take bullets for ya."

Not subtle, Mate, Eggsy told himself with a mental eyeroll. But he was too damn curious not to take the shot, to continue that analogy.

"Taron would take a bullet for a great many people." Was William's curt response, his face falling into his familiar mask that gave away nothing. "You shouldn't read too much into it."

"Your business is your business, Alpha." Harry said carefully, his use of William's new title taking both Eggsy and William aback. "But you have to know that going forward there's going to be a lot of questions and speculation regarding the nature of your...relationship with him. As members of his family, you might want to clue us in to how you want to handle things."

Uncle Will being Uncle Will, the other man took a minute or so to mull that over before inclining his head, acknowledging the point.

"We'll have to wait and ask him how he wants to handle it." Another long pause. "But we haven't been hiding some grand, tragic romance for decades, if that's what you're assuming, Galahad. I mean very little to him, personally. I would imagine he saved me for Eggsy's sake. Because it was the right thing to do."

Harry asked the question before Eggsy could. "Does he know how you feel about him?"

Eggsy remembered how Uncle Taron had described what he thought Uncle Will thought of him. Uncle Taron had said that over the years Uncle Will had implied that he was an 'obnoxious, immature manwhore who needs to grow up and take his responsibilities seriously'. He'd seemed pretty convinced about that.

"If he's ever had any idea, he's kept it to himself. As I did. No one who knows us would ever think we could work as a couple, after all. One only has to look at his dating history to know I'm not remotely his type."

Harry and Eggsy looked at each other, neither of them able to argue with the first part, anyway. Especially since they were both smart enough to know that love was not enough, when it came to making a relationship work. You had to like each other, and be able to coexist at least mostly peacefully. Harry and Uncle Taron had both stressed that to Eggsy, as well as the fact that a person of two natures like them didn't always luck out, both sides agreeing on who they wanted as a life mate.

Fuck it. Eggsy was too tired and emotionally fucked up to beat around the bush or check himself.

"Is it just your wolf, or do ya love im too?"

A slow blink over the bluntness of the question, then Uncle Will looked away so that when he spoke, he wasn't looking at either of them.

"I have made the very conscious decision not to think or allow that to happen. He stays far away from me, and plays a role when that's not an option. I'm never quite sure if I know who he is or not, truth be told."

Sharing another look with Harry, Eggsy got the sense that Harry disagreed with that. That he thought Uncle William's human feelings were very strong where Uncle Taron was concerned, even if maybe the other man was in denial about that.

Possibly out of self-preservation.

Wait...speaking of self-preservation...oh, fuck. "Who's gonna tell im about all this when he wakes up?"

All three men shared a look that said that none of them wanted that particular job.

And all three jumped a little when they heard Rachel shout something Eggsy didn't catch from somewhere nearby.

"You two stay with Taron." Harry ordered over his shoulder as he burst into action, out of the room and no doubt in search of Rachel before any of them could even acknowledge their understanding.

As the door slammed behind his mate Eggsy turned his head and asked his conscious uncle if he'd caught what Rachel had shouted.

"I think it was something like 'Ian did what?'."

"Huh. Wonder what he did that would make her so surprised she'd yell like that. I mean-oh fuck."

Realization dawned, Eggsy not sure what expression he was making, but obviously it was bad enough that his uncle gave him a look that mixed concern with 'you better tell me what's going on right now' father sternness.

Before Eggsy could think about how to phrase things he and Uncle Will both clearly heard Harry shouting 'What the hell was he thinking? Has he lost his mind?!' from wherever he was. The words seeming to echo in the otherwise quiet space.

"Eggsy..."

Taking his unconscious uncle's hand in his and giving it a squeeze for mutual support, Eggsy very deliberately did not look in his other uncle's direction as he stated that maybe, possibly, Ian McNab had sort of developed a crush on Uncle Addy after the whole thing at the club. A crush that maybe would have gotten worse seeing as tonight Uncle Addy had literally taken a bullet for the younger man, even if the bullet hadn't done any harm thanks to the Kevlar vest.

The new Alpha of the Kingsman Pack stared at Eggsy for a good two minutes trying to wrap his head around what Eggsy had just said. Trying and failing.

"Bloody hell." Uncle William finally got out.

"Uh...yeah."

A harsh, barked out laugh escaped William's lips. "That poor boy. He's even more fucked than I am."