Right Hand Woman

Eggsy Unwin

Eggsy would be the first to admit it, but it was eerily quiet inside of headquarters as they all waited with bated breath for Sam to wake up. The doctor caring for her had explained that what they were playing now was none other than a waiting game. Her recovery, if at all a recovery, would rely solely on tonight. If she woke up, they were out of dangerous waters and her recovery would be a quick and painless one. If not... well, the only place she would be going was home. And it wasn't like she was particularly rushing to open them again, oh no. Samantha seemed to be taking her goddamn time, much to his digression. As soon as the earpiece in his glasses burst forth with Merlin's words, Eggsy had broken into a cold sweat, completely unlike his usual characteristics. Apologizing to his mom and sister, he promised he'd be back as soon as he could, but he needed to go. Michelle didn't even bother to complain with him, knowing whatever had put her son into such a fuss was obviously very important.

The second his feet hit the floor of headquarters, Merlin was there to very calmly explain what had happened to her. While albeit sad that his original candidate, Leo Winchcombe, had been kicked out of Kingsman, a rush of pride came to him when he was told that she managed to land inside of the K, therefore would be allowed to stay. The other two that were allowed to stay included Quentin Wickham (no surprise there, it had taken Roxy forever to find a candidate), and Theodore Bostwick. God, he fucking hated that prick. When they made it to where Sam was being kept, Roxy was already in the room, watching replays of Sam's fall on a small device she had had fashioned for reviews of missions and monitoring. Eggsy now saw why it came in handy.

In complete total of the damage done to her body, Eggsy and the others in the room at the time would admit that they were surprised it wasn't much, much worse from a fall of that height. She was bruised all to hell, the few scattering her face causing him to flinch slightly when he stepped inside, knowing they probably would hurt like a bitch. Eggsy had stood next to the bed, fingertips just barely grazing over the back of her hand, a gesture neither Merlin nor Roxy missed. They would discuss it later in confidence, but right now wasn't the time nor place to discuss it. "She gonna be alright?" Eggsy had eventually asked, glancing up from Sam to finally meet their observant looks.

Merlin, who was closest to the twenty-five-year-old, placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We need to be patient, Eggsy. But there's hope. Right now, we're playing the waiting game. She survived a war, Eggsy, and you heard it first hand from her. There's no way she won't come to." No way. The words had stung like salt in a gaping wound to him, simply because of the fact that there was a way, and based on his first observation of her, that was the way they were headed. A few more words were passed between the three before Roxy headed out, Eggsy collapsing into a chair next to Samantha's bed.

"You know," Merlin started, standing somewhat behind Eggsy as his eyes flicked over the screens depicting her health. "Harry originally chose her to be his candidate. He'd been studying her for years, watching her every move. Keeping tabs on her recovery. Her family almost his bankruptcy one year while her and her brothers were deployed. Harry had a 'chat' with her father's boss that same day. They ended up being just fine."

Not moving his eyes off of Samantha, Eggsy's mind ran wild. "Why'd he choose me then? I ain't nothin' special, not like her." For god's sake, she had survived a war, lost an arm, and was tormented with nightmares from the events every time she went to sleep. Eggsy, on the other hand, what had he done? Sold cheap drugs to under-aged kids, slept with girls he wouldn't see ever again, and wasted space? No, if anyone deserved to live the life he had, it was Sam.

Crossing the floor, Merlin had noticed a flaw in one of the support systems leading to her endotracheal tube. "Because you, Eggsy, had been the focus of his attention for much longer." Glancing over the beaten girl, Merlin noted the rather shocked and confused look harboring on the boy's face, forcing himself to ignore the fact that Eggsy's hand had managed to find Samantha's, only to let go of it and pull away the second he noticed that Merlin saw it. It had become obvious that the agent harbored feelings for his candidate, and normally Merlin would bring an abrupt stop to anything of the sort, but when it came to the two of them, he would allow it with hesitance. On one hand, he didn't want anyone to hurt one of the agents, but he also didn't want to give a war veteran more reasons for nightmares. He wasn't even sure if Samantha returned Eggsy's feelings, simply because she was so stoic around him. The girl had thousands of sides, and he was never sure which one he got. "The only reason he didn't want to put your life in danger is because he had already killed one member of your family. He couldn't take the blood of another."