Chapter Text
“Excuse me, Merlin?” Penelope pokes her nose into the tiny closet Merlin calls an office in R&D. “They’re ready for you.”
“Thank ye, Penelope.” Merlin slides a pen into his pocket and shuffles a few papers together.
“May I get you anything? Tea?”
Merlin raises an eyebrow. “Ye are very helpful this morning.”
He’s pleased to see her looking offended. “I like to hope I am helpful every morning, as well as every afternoon,” she all but snaps back. He’s trained her well. “I simply thought you might enjoy a cuppa while speaking with everyone.”
“You’re trying to soften me up.”
“I would never waste time on something like that,” she retorts.
Merlin nods in approval. “There are few people on the planet capable of softening me up.”
“Exactly.” She pauses. “Although…if may be so bold…just a reminder that Bors told Geoffrey it would be all right if he took…”
“Geoffrey should know better,” Merlin interrupts. “Just because I’ve been out of the office more than usual does nae mean rules have changed.”
“Yes, Merlin.” She sighs. “As I said, they’re all ready for you.”
“Thank ye.” Merlin waits for his assistant to leave the room before heading for his small tea station. He’ll make his own tea, thank you very much. The only people who know how to get it exactly right are Eggsy and Harry, and obviously neither of them is there to complete the task successfully. He stirs in the appropriate amount of milk, picks up his small stack of papers, and heads for the R&D conference area.
“Good morning, Merlin,” Geoffrey says, immediately hopping out of his seat. “May I offer…”
Merlin ignores him. “Good morning, everyone. Be seated…this won’t take long.” He sits on the edge of the closest desk and sips at his tea. Penelope looks at the teacup with annoyance but everyone else seems to relax as one. Good. Let them relax. “As ye know, I have been away from HQ on personal business quite a few times over the past few weeks.” They nod as one. “I know I have left this department in more than capable hands.” He briefly raises his cup in Penelope’s direction. “However…it is not her job to make sure ye follow the basic rules that have been in place since ye set your first toe in this department.” He doesn’t raise his voice. He doesn’t have to. They get the message and seem to shrink back into their seats. Only Penelope continues to meet his gaze. “Can anyone tell me the first rule of R&D when it comes to agents?”
Simon slowly raises his hand and Merlin juts his chin in his direction. “Agents do not belong in R&D unless summoned here for a reason…and even then, they’re not allowed over the threshold without an R&D employee by their side.”
“Correct. Another rule?”
The employees look at each other. Some squirm. Merlin hides a smile in his tea. He is enjoying this immensely. He really should hold these meetings more often, even if there’s no good reason. “R&D is not a play yard for the agents,” someone finally pipes up. “Our work is performed to keep them safe, not keep them entertained.”
“Well said, Tabitha,” Merlin says. He relaxes his expression by 10% when he gazes in her direction. “Now, I’m sure by now ye have realized why we are having this conversation. There is…” Merlin hears a beep through his glasses. The message that follows startles him so much that he almost drops his cup.
Agent Galahad is awake.
“Is everything quite all right, Merlin?” Penelope asks politely, although she has slowly risen from her chair.
Merlin clears his throat and manages to get the cup down onto the desk. “Fine, thank ye. As I was saying…” He clears his throat again. “There is absolutely no reason…EVER…that an agent will be giving orders to anyone in this unit regarding tech. No reason. None. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Merlin,” they mumble.
“If I could simply explain, Merlin,” Geoffrey jumps in.
“If ye think ye have something of value to say, Geoffrey, ye may say it to Penelope. I have neither the time nor the patience for ye right now. DISMISSED!” Merlin all but barks, and they scurry back to their workstations. “Penelope?”
“Yes, Merlin?”
“I have been called down to Medical and am unsure of when I might return,” he says simply.
“Yes, Merlin. I…” Penelope hesitates. “I will keep an eye on things during your absence,” she finishes finally.
“I dinnae expect anything less.” He turns on one heel and leaves the room.
Merlin knows the route from R&D to Medical like the back of his hand; he’s made the trip enough times to visit his ridiculous husband. This time, however, his legs seem to move with a mind of their own. Agent Galahad is awake, the message said. Awake. Which could mean many things. Awake, but relying on equipment. Awake, but with the mind of a potato. Awake, but without his memory. The idea of Harry Hart being unable to remember Merlin – or Eggsy – is something Merlin’s brain doesn’t want to even consider. He brushes by a nurse and almost runs into the doctor as she exits Harry’s room. “Hello, Merlin. I see you got my message.”
“Yes, Dr. Barnett. Ye said he is…he is awake?”
“He is. We waited about ninety minutes before I felt it was safe to reach out to you. We needed to run a few tests first.” She pauses. “Tell me, Merlin…is Agent Galahad always so…difficult?”
It takes everything Merlin has not to sag with relief. “Unfortunately, the answer to that question is yes, Doctor. In Medical, at home, in the field. He has a flare for the dramatic.”
“Well, right now he has a flare for the irritating. Complaining about his hair, his face, the temperature in the room. Quite high maintenance.”
“I believe the word you’re looking for is peacock,” Merlin supplies helpfully. She snorts. “Is there anything I should know before I speak with him?”
“Not really. His vitals are good…they have been since day one. Most of his physical injuries have healed themselves over the past few weeks, and he seems to be at baseline cognitively, at least from what I’ve seen in his records.”
“Cognitively, he’s an idiot,” Merlin informs her.
She smiles. “I do believe you are just what the doctor ordered for your husband, Merlin. Please go on in.”
Merlin has one hand on the doorknob when something occurs to him. “Dr. Barnett?”
“Yes?”
“I wish for ye to ignore any yelling ye might hear coming from Agent Galahad’s room.”
“Yelling?”
“Yes.”
She frowns. “Merlin…your husband has recently awakened from a coma.”
“I am aware, Doctor. This is nae the first time it’s happened.”
“It isn’t his fault.”
“As ye say,” Merlin replies politely. “I simply wish to voice a few…opinions on the matter, and when I voice them, it may be in a loud tone of voice.”
“As a licensed medical professional, it is my duty to report any suspicions of abuse,” she says sternly as she steps between Merlin and the door. “That includes spousal abuse between married men.”
Merlin sighs. “That is correct, Dr. Barnett, and I respect ye immensely for performing that duty. I can assure ye that no one is being abused.” She raises an eyebrow. “Ye are new to Kingsman…or at least new to dealing with a marriage such as ours. I advise ye to speak to some of the staff…Nurse Kinsley would be the best bet; she has been here the longest. We have a…unique relationship, and for the most part staff here at HQ know to just leave us alone. We would never hurt each other in a serious manner.”
“But you would hurt each other in a casual manner?”
Christ, the woman is unyielding. Merlin idly wonders if she would be interested in a place at the Table someday. “Aye, if the mood strikes.” She does not smile at the joke. “I swear to ye, Doctor, my hands are the safest Agent Galahad shall ever be in.”
“Very well. But I will be observing him…and your interactions…from now on.”
“Understood.” He waits for her to move aside. She finally heads down the hall and Merlin pulls his mobile from his pocket. He taps a few things and makes sure the light on the camera has gone from green to red before he steps into the room.
“Hamish,” Harry says with a tired smile.
Merlin says nothing as he looks Harry over. His skin has a bit of a healthier tinge to it and he’s no longer lying flat. The back of his bed is raised, and he has a small tray at his side holding a cup and straw. The smile fades from Harry’s face as he looks up at Merlin. Merlin finally sits, crossing one knee over the other. “Agent Galahad.”
“I had no clue I was out for so long,” Harry says. His voice is a bit raspy and he clears his throat. “When they gave me that information I immediately thought of you…and of Eggsy. I wondered how you were taking it. I also thought you might be happy to see me awake and speaking, but that does not seem to be the case.”
“Of course this is all about you.” Merlin rolls his eyes. “Eggsy and I were fine. We ARE fine. We aren’t the ones sleeping away an entire month without a care in the world!”
“You act as if I did this on purpose.” Harry glares at him. “It’s not as if I ASKED that odious little man to blow me out of a building.”
“I dinnae see ye trying to stop him,” Merlin retorts, although he knows that makes no sense. “And trust me…I have watched that footage hundreds if not thousands of times.”
“Pardon me for giving you an excuse to do your job,” Harry snaps.
“At least ONE of us did our job. A good agent would have noticed something was off. A good agent would have done his best to make it home safely so the men who love him would nae have to spend half of their waking hours sitting by his bedside!” Merlin roars.
“You sat by my bedside? Oh, Hamish, how touching. It’s like something right out of Coronation Street.” Harry takes his hand and kisses it.
“Christ.” Merlin yanks his hand away and stands. “Forget I said anything.”
“And Eggsy…he sat with me as well?”
“Yes. Because he’s ridiculous that way…as ridiculous as you are.”
“Is he on his way here?”
“Nae, because I have yet to inform him of your glorious return to the land of the living. I wished to speak with ye first.”
“You didn’t tell him? I’d like to see him, and I’m sure…”
“I dinnae care what ye’d like, Agent. I’m not done with ye quite yet. I feel we should discuss the fact that ye ordered the lad to look after me.”
“I didn’t order him, per se. I simply suggested it. I felt that you might overwork yourself when I’m away for any sort of extended period, and…” Harry suddenly stops talking and studies Merlin’s face. “You were worried…that’s why you’re acting this way.”
“I always act this way, Harry, ye know that. Unless ye DO have some sort of brain damage.”
“You love me.”
“Of course I do, idiot. This is how I show it. I yell at ye. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t waste my time.” Merlin sits back down and allows Harry to take his hand.
“I’m sorry, Hamish. You know I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you OR Eggsy.”
“Aye,” Merlin says stiffly. “And I wasn’t by your bedside every waking hour, so dinnae start preening like the peacock ye are. I was with my staff most of the time at the beginning, trying to figure out how and why this happened.”
“Well?”
“We are nae talking about this mere hours after ye woke up,” Merlin informs him. “There is time enough for that later.” He leans forward. “I did miss ye, Harry, very much. I can at least admit that.” He gives Harry a soft kiss. “The beard feels odd.”
“YOU think it feels odd?” Harry snaps. “How in the world did you let this happen? My face. MY HAIR!”
“For fuck’s sake, Harry.” Merlin stands again. “I’m too busy to deal with this right now. I’m calling in reinforcements.” He pulls out his phone and puts it to his ear. “Hello, Richard? Merlin.”
“For future reference, Lavinia, just because it smells good, don’t mean you gotta roll in it. Fuck.” Eggsy wrinkles his nose as he towels off the large dog. “And trust me…might smell good to you, but it smells like absolute shite to the rest of us.”
“Eggsy.” Richard appears in the doorway. “Just got a call from Mike up in the dining hall. He has a big favor to ask.”
“Okay.” Eggsy leans back on his heels and lets Lavinia go free, praying that she doesn’t decide to take a tumble through another mysterious smelly pile of…something.
“Food Service is really short staffed today, I guess…some sort of flu thing? Anyway, Medical asked for food to be delivered, they dinnae have anyone to run and fetch it. Mike wondered if you could go down there, take the orders, and bring them back to him.”
“Why can’t one of the nurses or sommat just call it in, and I can help deliver it?”
“I didn’t ask for the man’s life story, mate…I just got the call asking for help. Maybe he doesn’t have someone available to TAKE the orders.” Richard shrugs. “If you dinnae want to help, I’ll tell him so.”
“You know that ain’t true, of course I’ll help.” Eggsy gives his boss an annoyed look. “Just let me wash up quick and I’ll head over.”
“I’ll let them know.”
Eggsy debates stopping at the dining hall to see if Mike has any other instructions but finally decides just to head on down to Medical. Richard hadn’t said he needed to hurry, just that he needed to get the order. He has time to peek in on Harry along the way. He hurries down the hall but stops short in front of Harry’s room. The door is open. It’s never open. Eggsy all but fearfully pokes his head around the corner…and what he sees almost takes his breath away.
“What the fuck? Harry?” Eggsy all but falls into the room, catching himself on the door at the last minute. “They told me…Richard said I was supposed to get…”
“My dear boy,” Harry says with a grin. He’s sitting up in bed, hair still long but neatly combed. He holds out his hand but Eggsy pauses, glancing up at the camera in the corner. “Close the door,” Harry tells him. “Hamish has taken care of the camera. No one can see or hear us unless they come in through that door.”
“Harry.” Eggsy stumbles to the bed and falls to his knee at Harry’s bedside. “Fuck.” He buries his face in Harry’s lap and sobs as Harry’s slender fingers stroke through his hair. “Been forever…thought you was never gonna wake up.” His hands clutch at Harry’s thighs through the blanket.
“Shh, darling, I’m fine. It’s all right.” The hand rests at the back of Eggsy’s neck, fingers continuing to thread through his hair. “I’m so sorry to have worried you.”
“It’s all right. Ain’t your fault.” Eggsy wipes his face on his sleeve, ignoring Harry’s wince of disgust. “Not like you asked to be exploded.”
“Exactly what I told Hamish!”
“Where is he, anyway? Why ain’t he here? He should be here, with you! He’s your fucking husband!” Eggsy looks around the room as if Merlin’s going to pop out from behind the bed.
“He was here. Trust me, I’m happy to see the back of him for the time being.”
“You two…” Eggsy says almost fondly, slowly sitting up. “I can’t believe it…you’re awake.” New tears slide down his face.
“Let me look at you.” Harry brushes hair out of Eggsy’s eyes. “You are handsome as ever…although you look thinner. Haven’t you been eating?”
“I eat,” Eggsy promises. “Been worried about you, haven’t I?”
“Hamish should take better care of you. I will be having words with him.”
“Don’t care what words you have, just happy that you’re awake to say them.” Eggsy drinks in Harry’s face. “You’re gorgeous. Perfect, even with that beard.”
“Yes, well, let’s not discuss that. It will be gone as soon as I can arrange it,” Harry says almost angrily. “I would like a kiss, though.”
“Don’t gotta ask me twice.” Eggsy sits on the edge of the bed and leans in. Harry gives him a gentle kiss, then another, and then a third, before leaning his forehead against Eggsy’s. “Know you and Merlin always warned me that something like this could happen. And you been injured before, so I sorta knew what it was like, but this…this was different. Merlin was so worried, Harry, couldn’t figure out what happened and all. Made me worry more.”
“I’m fine, as you can see.” Harry sighs and leans back on the bed. Eggsy squeeze Harry’s hand in his own, thumb rubbing over Harry’s knuckles. “I can only imagine how difficult this was for you. I remember how we felt back at the beginning when Dean hurt you. I felt like my own heart was lying on the bed.”
“Yeah, that’s sorta what it felt like, not gonna lie.”
“Eggsy, I have not spoken about this with Hamish, but I feel he and I would be of one mind on the topic. If this has made you rethink our relationship…if you don’t want this constant anxiety about my missions hanging over your head…”
“Shut your bearded mouth,” Eggsy interrupts. “You must have some sort of brain damage, Harry, if you think for one fucking second that this is gonna make me leave. Yeah, it’s scary as fuck, but you…you’re my family now. Merlin, too. So yeah. Not going nowhere, no matter WHAT happens.”
Harry smiles up at him. “I love you, Eggsy.”
Eggsy’s heart swells in his chest until all he can do is curl up as close as he can with his head on Harry’s shoulder. “Love you, Harry.”