Newfounded Family

Chapter one

The low thrum of London's traffic and the distant drone of the ever busy city people was a welcomed noise by everyone's standards. The past screams of VE day and fearful whimpers of Poppy's crusade were soon filed away into cabinets,gravestones still delicately flowered but the experience tucked in with other national atrocities,only to be referred to as 'That Day'. Grey clouds hung low with heavy smog as a tailor shop,once destroyed where it stood,sat quaint and quiet as if it had always been there. Nestled in between other Savile Row luxuries,not much had changed after it's remodel on the outside. The bomb shelter added into the floor of fitting room 5 was a mere safety precaution.

In the IT room of the shop,beside the dining room on the first floor,a man with a gruff Scottish brogue and carefully maintained jumpers sat,fiddling with the wires of black-framed glasses,the curse of a name bumbling along the air every so often as he reached for wire cutters and extra rubber tubing. Cold tea sat untouched on his left,a slowly dying iPhone cried out it's despair in the form of a buzz as the battery drained and finally met it's end. Apparently that was enough to stir the man,known as most to Merlin,into getting up and having a break before retreating to the manor in time for the next mission. The office was impersonal to his touches,carefully selected furniture placed in carefully selected places,any personal memorabilia left devoid of the place as he grabbed what he needed and descended the stairs to talk to Dagonet who was no doubt fussing with pocket squares or ties in some way or another.

"Dagonet," Merlin greeted,the metal clinking of his prosthetics alerting the other man to his presence before his words. Not many escaped both tragedies without an injury to show.  The older man looked up in response,spectacles perched precariously on his nose and a smile gracing his face."Merlin. I didn't expect you down so quick. Those glasses looked mangled beyond repair,I wonder how the young lad does it." He responded in kind,eyes flicking from the aforementioned accessory to his colleague. Merlin made a noise in agreement,lifting to take a look at them in better light. "3rd pair in 4 months. I'd ask Arthur ta give him a scolding but 'e's soft on the lad,no use in it." Moving to place the bag he had collected and his clipboard on the till,he picked up the sample sizes of a new fabric they appeared to be trying. "These colours are lovely Dag,part of the Autumn collection?"

Before Dagonet had a chance to respond,the untimely and unfamiliar wail of police sirens sounded close by,pulling their attention to the shop window. The ring of the bell only proved to confuse them further as a young girl threw herself in,pressing herself flat against a display. Wild,auburn and artificial curls framed her face,the rest of it pulled back into bunches messily,seemingly as she ran. Her glasses sat on a permanent tilt,cheeks ruddy from the run and school uniform creased and untidy. She sat with her chest heaving,eyes glued to the door before she realised the shop had inhabitants. She pressed a finger topped with bright blue nail polish to her lips,before ducking down as on-foot officers opened the shop door.

"Have you seen a young ginger girl go past? In uniform? Has a school bag and glasses?" Asked one of the officers,panting as she spoke,sweat making it's way down her cheek and plastering her fringe to her forehead.

Merlin was first to respond,stepping forward with a shake of his head. "No. Not here,love. Maybe check the side alleys?" He suggested,watching as the suggestion spurred the two into action and into leaving the shop. Dagonet stared in shock,partially at the sudden events and partially at Merlins bold-faced lie.

The girl let out a sigh of relief,getting to her knees and giving them both a thumbs up. "Nearly had me then. Fanks." And with that last statement and a grin adorned with the glint of braces,she left the shop as fast as she entered it,heading the opposite way to the coppers in an almost comedic,taking-her-time way.

Dagonet sputtered in shock,barking out a laugh as he looked from the door to Merlin. "Forgive me,Merlin,for saying but I've never seen you do anything so bold as that. Wait till Arthur catches wind." Another noise of amusement and the man resolved to his duties,checking the log book for appointments. A withering feeling curled in the Scot's gut as the sense of something more was to come,a sense that that was not all they'd see of the girl.

Arthur did catch wind eventually,an hour later back in the manor. His laughter echoed through the house,his amusement made known as he leant against his best friend's desk precariously. "I think age is starting to take its toll ." Harry Hart,the former Galahad,said after his laugher petered out. "Whatever possessed you?"
Merlin sighed at his friend,rubbing the bridge of his nose at the question. "You think if I knew I'd hold the reason to myself? I don't know why. It's gonna bug me though." He admitted,sitting back in his chair as he mentally flicked through faces and reasons.
This only prompted his friend's amusement further much to Merlins chagrin and continued late into the night,until Harry had other places to be and his staff clocked out for the night.

The dim lights in the room were useless to the blue-white glow of his screens,reflecting off of pictures with members of kingsman and past pets,room decor gifted to him with the intent of making him grin and a lone bookcase in the corner,filled with books that would not fit in his own at home. The clock on the wall ticked-ticked-ticked until it ticked 2am,the late hour prompting the man to consider returning home and so he did,returning to a flat he hadn't seen properly in a week

. A build up of letters was the first thing to greet him,collecting neatly in a small pile on the doorstep. A quick leaf through alerted him to a couple of bills,a voucher for a nearby chicken shop and one which appeared to be from social services. Checking the address twice,he opened it and scanned the contents,brow furrowing further as it told him he was the next of kin for a niece he had never met for his father's nephew,a man he had met once at a wedding. A meeting was set for the next day at 5pm and any further inquiries were to be made on the website. A quick call on the landline landed him on call with a not-so-happy Harry. "Did you or ye boy have anything ta do with this Harry? Because it isn't funny at all and 'm not laughing with ye. Social services? Niece? I'm not even gonna ask how you got me Dad's nephew's name." Merlin growled down the phone,letter still in hand as the other end fell in silence to process his words,the Scottish brogue of his nature deepening with his apparent anger.
"Eaun,I promise you,me and Eggsy had nothing to do with it. I don't think anyone is. It's a very bizarre prank if it were." Came the slightly crackly but certain voice of Harry. The quiet was deafening as the anger drained out of Merlin,fear and confusion finding him faster than anger did. 

"Jesus Mary and Joseph."