fourth of july - eggsy unwin (hiatus)

- VII.

"Is he gonna be alright?"

Lynn believes she's never seen Eggsy in a panic, even if he tried to make it unnoticeable. The way he opened the door quickly instead of slowly like he usually did, the way his nervous face scanned over Harry's unconscious body, the uneasiness in his voice. It was unusual for her to witness this, but she took note of it anyway.

"We need to have patience, Eggsy," Merlin says calmly. "But there's hope, okay? If I were you, I'd concentrate on your training. Make it through the tests, make him proud."

The emphasis Merlin had put on the word proud was the same emphasis Lynn's brother had put on some of his words. When he'd be in charge of taking care of her, trying to get her to sleep at night, they'd talk about his job. Of course, her brother didn't give away too many details, but she'd always had said the same thing every time he'd bring it up:

"I wanna be like you! That seems so awesome!"

And the same response would come from his mouth every time:

"You will, you'll make me so proud to be your brother."

The emphasis Merlin had put on the word proud had shown Lynn how important Harry truly was to Eggsy. He didn't just step into his life at random and want him as his candidate. He'd been in his life since the beginning, he'd only be there physically though when it was important. The way it seems, Harry is almost like a father figure to Eggsy.

So now she gets it, why he'd cared so much about a man he'd "just met", because they hadn't just met. Harry had known Eggsy since he was born, but neither Lynn nor Eggsy were truly aware. Eggsy probably wasn't even sure why he cared so much.

Merlin clears his throat loudly. "Well, I'll leave you be. Ms. Lynette, care to join me outside?"

Lynn nods, it's probably for the best anyway. "Sure," She says. "See you Eggy."

Lynn follows Merlin out of the hospital-like room as they walk slowly down the hall. "I don't think we've had the chance to talk formally," Merlin says. "I knew your brother. I trained him, actually."

"You did?" Lynn says. "How was he? Was he good?"

Merlin tucks his clipboard between his underarm. "One of the best damn agents we've had in a while," He says. "I was there after his passing, actually."

"Yeah now that I think about it I do think I recall seeing you," Lynn says.

"We've kept an eye on you since," Merlin says. "Just weren't sure how well you'd do in here, seeing how troubled you were at home."

A silence rises between the two. "I'm actually not that bad," Lynn admits. "I only act out because my parents won't let me do anything. Ever since Charlie's death they've kept me locked in my room. Mum's gone fucking insane, Dad doesn't stick around for long..." She trails off.

"I know," Merlin says simply.

And she figured he knew. "You're the one who gave me that necklace thing, weren't you?" Lynn asks. "Why didn't you take me in as your candidate?"

"Well, now I work more with the technology for Kingsman," Merlin says. "I'd decided to let Agent Percival 'pick' you as his candidate, but you're technically my candidate."

"Got it," Lynn mumbles. "Is Harry going to be okay, though? Seriously, I'm a little worried about Eggsy."

Merlin sighs as he opens a door, gesturing to her to go first. "He should be okay. Surprised you're concerned about Eggsy, I thought you two weren't fond of each other."

Lynn shrugs. "He's not that different from me," is all she says.

"He's a good person to keep around," Merlin says. "Very loyal, very protective, he's a kind boy. You should keep him in your circle, I think he may appreciate it too."

Lynn nods silently. "Well, you best get ready. Pup training will begin soon, I have to go get Eggsy," Merlin says. "Good luck, Walters."

Lynn smiles slightly. The way he'd said her last name sounded exactly how they'd addressed her brother. Someone here had hope for her, after all.

⁂

"J.B, I'll shoot you! Goddamn you, I'll fucking shoot you!"

Lynn whips her head around and stops running with her dog, the rest of the group passing her up, as she watches Eggsy hold a gun up to his pug. So much for a kind boy, right Merlin? She can't help but laugh. "Just pick the damn thing up!"

"Merlin says we're not allowed to hold you," Eggsy says, continuing to talk to the dog before scoffing. "Bollocks."

He picks up the dog and places it inside of his vest and begins running to catch up with everyone else. Lynn tugs at Dove's leash, who quickly stands up and begins running with her as Eggsy catches up. "Didn't know you liked to threaten dogs, I thought you had a soft spot for animals?" She teases.

"Yeah, well this twat wasn't moving," Eggsy says. "I wasn't going to actually shoot him."

"I think we both know that, Eggsy," Lynn laughs.

Eggsy looks over at her and laughs slightly. "Dove seems to be doing well."

"Active breed, she lives for this shit," Lynn says.

They finally catch up with everyone else. The first part of their dog's training was finally complete, and Lynn was glad when they went inside for dinner. "Fuck me, I'm starving," Lynn says as she sits down at the table and begins eating almost immediately. "So I've considered your offer."

"My 'offer'?" Eggsy asks curiously.

"Yeah the one about being friends," Lynn says.

Eggsy chuckles. "Don't think that was really an offer."

"Oh fuck off," Lynn says. "Anyways, I guess I trust you enough to be friends."

"Oh really?" Eggsy says as he takes a bite of his food. "What made you think that?"

Lynn shrugs. "We're not that different from each other, I think."

"Hm," Eggsy says. "Okay."