Love Me, Little Butterfly - KINGSMAN

One Year Later

The next year is a constant up and down for me. There are days when I'm totally fine, messing around with my friends and having a great time on our missions. Eggsy becomes my new partner in crime and Roxy a very good friend. I even go back home a couple of times, start to see my mum and my little stepsister again and meet some ex-colleagues from college. Then there are those days, when everything I look at reminds me of Harry and I just can't bring myself to stop hurting. Almost all of these days I spend with Hamish. He's the only one who seems to understand me at least a bit. And he knows how to cheer me up, no matter if it's by just taking me in his arms, fooling around making fun of himself or starting a tickle fight. Never had I expected him, the oh-so-serious and professional Merlin, to be able to make me laugh again. But he does, and succeeds every fucking time.

Two months after Harry's death, I decide to move out from our apartment. It just hurts too much to be there every night, lying alone in the bed I used to share with my loving boyfriend. Eggsy moves in instead, and soon his new girlfriend Tilde (yes, you got that right, it's the BLOODY SCANDINAVIAN CROWNPRINCESS) follows. I sleep in a guestroom in the headquarters until, one afternoon, Hamish appears in my door and hands me a key. "What lock does it open?", I ask, surprised. "The one to my front door. I just thought it's maybe not that nice to always sleep here, all on your own. If you should ever seek some company, I have plenty of space in my home and you are very welcomed there, Jane." Smiling widely, I press a kiss against his cheek. In the following months I spend more and more nights on Merlin's couch, and less and less in the headquarters. It's just so nice to have someone you can share a glass of wine and a good chat with, instead of feeling lonely all evening long.

The day the hostile missiles hit all Kingsman agents' residences, me and Hamish are watching a movie and eating popcorn together in his living room as the alarm goes off. Immediately, we try to contact the others, but no one responds. The only signal that is still working is the one from Eggsy's glasses, even though he doesn't answer our calls. Hamish and I get into the car and drive to Harry's apartment. But where once was a house, now there is only rubble and ashes. It is raining, heavily, and soon my clothes are soaked wet. Shivering from the cold and the fear for my brother, I move closer to Hamish, who soon wraps his raincoat around me and pulls me into his side. Then someone steps out of the fog. Eggsy.

"Someone decides to wipe out every Kingsman property, every agent, and somehow, conveniently, you two weren't at home." He points his gun in our direction. I want to say something, but Hamish is faster. "I could say the same thing about you." Eggsy is outraged. "What, do you think I'd kill Roxy? And my mate, Brandon, and my fuckin' dog?" "No." Hamish moves closer to him, pulling me along. "Do you think we would? Jane and I were watching a movie, for heaven's sake." Slowly, my brother lowers his pistol. Then Hamish gets something out of the bag he carried around for the last hour, with me wondering what might be in it. It's Charlie's artificial arm. "This thing hacked us. It can be remotely controlled." Hamish swallows hard. "Jane and I are only alive because my address wasn't on the data base with the agents' and hers is officially still at Harry's place. Whoever Charlie's working with, doesn't think that mere staff are missile worthy." Eggsy can't take it anymore and starts crying. "Does this seem funny to you? Roxy is dead. Everyone is dead, gone. Do you even care?" I can feel how Hamish's muscles tense next to me. "Put yourself together. Remember your training. There's no time for emotion in this scenario." He looks at me, making sure that I'm listening as I didn't say a word since we arrived. "Now, as all surviving agents are present, we follow the Doomsday Protocol. When that's done, and only then, we may shed a tear in private."