Archive of Our Own ^beta

Having grown up on the streets, Eggsy was used to getting into a few brawls. His knuckles were already scarred from getting cut open over and over again, and he knew all the dirtiest fighting tactics in the book. This was a blessing and a curse while he was doing his Kingsman training.

A blessing, because it meant that Eggsy was bringing never-seen-before moves into the sparring ring and absolutely stumping the candidates. A curse, because there was a switch inside Eggsy that flicked when he got into scraps.

Charlie had triggered that switch to flick.

They had been sparring under the watchful eyes of Harry and Merlin, both giving and receiving jabs and kicks, until Charlie said the magic words.

"Bet your mum's used to getting knocked about like this."

It was just a passing comment, really. He had said it with a shit-eating smirk before jabbing Eggsy's chest. Eggsy went berserk.

In seconds, Eggsy had the taller man pinned, screaming "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY MUM?!" in his face. He started punching properly, hard blows with the full intention of harming compared to the light jabs that would only leave you slightly bruised from earlier. He got in a good few punches to Charlie's face while the man below him screamed and begged for mercy.

And then Eggsy's dirty tactics came out.

From his position straddling Charlie's chest, Eggsy moved back just the slightest to knee him in the balls. Hard. Then, his nails came out. Eggsy dug his nails into any piece of skin he could find, dragging them down and scratching the skin of Charlie's arms open.

"GET THIS FUCKING PSYCHOPATH OFF ME!" Charlie screamed as Merlin and Harry came running up. Even with the two agents trying to pull Eggsy away, Eggsy was latched to Charlie like a limpet, still pummelling him.

And then came the teeth. Charlie had flinched and curled to the side, hoping to dodge a few of Eggsy's punches, but that gave Eggsy prime access to his ear. Eggsy bit down, hoping to tear it off.

Sadly, Harry finally got a good grip round Eggsy's waist and pulled him back while Eggsy kicked and screamed, his mouth covered in blood from Charlie's ear. Eggsy got in one last headbutt, breaking Charlie's nose with a sickening crunch and a spurt of blood, before Harry and Merlin carried Eggsy away. Nobody stayed to look after Charlie.

Merlin took Eggsy's legs, holding them tightly together, while Harry took Eggsy's upper half, dodging punches directed his way.

"Let go of me, fuckin' let go of me! He was talking shit about my mum, he had no fuckin' right-"

"I know, Eggsy. You've done enough damage for today, however." Harry soothed as he and Merlin walked into a private room, depositing Eggsy on the bed. "Now. We'll let you calm down for a minute. Please think about what you've done."

As Merlin and Harry left the room and locked the door behind them, they both heard the loud bang of a fist going through drywall.

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For the next hour, Harry and Merlin observed the private room on the security cameras very closely. Eggsy punched two holes in the wall, knocked over the bedside table, smashed a ceramic lamp, and tipped the bed over. He spent a good minute just screaming into a pillow at one point. Then, he just started kicking the mattress like it was a toff and he was kicking their teeth in.

And then, suddenly, he stopped.

The switch flicked again.

He looked around the room, at the damage he had caused. Rested his hand over the holes in the wall and pulled a face. Stared at the floor and realised there was a blood trail following him from where he had cut his bare foot on some of the ceramic lamp's shards. Carefully, he put the bedside table upright, hoping to fix at least one of his mistakes. He didn't have the fight left in him to place the mattress back on the bed, so instead collapsed on the mattress, and started to sob.

The adrenaline high was gone, Eggsy Unwin was back.

And he was scared.

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Merlin leaned back in his chair, watching as Eggsy tugged at his hair, curled up in a tight ball on the mattress. "What do we do, then?"

"I'll go talk to him. I don't know what happened there, I think he's just burnt out." Harry murmured, almost shocked at the day's events. "Poor boy."

"Aye… Poor lad."

With that, Harry left for Eggsy's room. Along the way, he stopped by medical, grabbing a dish full of warm water, bandages, and some cotton wool without any nurses noticing. They were too busy patching Charlie up.

Once at the door to Eggsy's room, Harry lightly knocked. He could still hear Eggsy crying on the other side. "Eggsy, may I come in?"

The sobbing stopped immediately, save for a sniff. Eggsy cleared his throat, then went; "Yeah, sure… Uh… Yeah. I can't unlock the door, I tried. You'll have to get keys."

"That's fine, Eggsy." Harry pressed his thumb to the biometric security scanner, waiting for the click of a lock before opening the door. Eggsy was sat up on the mattress on the floor, his eyes red though he was clearly trying to hide the fact that he was crying. He was shaking slightly. Harry kept calm, knowing that getting angry would only make Eggsy worse. "Are you alright?"

"No. I've fucked up massively, I know I have. I know I'm gettin' kicked out, Harry, an' I'm sorry I disappointed you." Eggsy muttered, as if he was embarrassed to even say it. He stood, but Harry made him sit down again.

"Nobody said anything about getting kicked out. This was just… Let's call it a blip." Harry sighed and sat down beside Eggsy. "I cannot have you fighting like that, Eggsy. If that was a mission, well…"

"He was slagging off my mum…"

"I know. You cannot let fighting talk get to you." Harry rested his hand on Eggsy's shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. Eggsy leaned into it. "Can I see your foot, dear boy? I think you've hurt it."

"Yeah… S'bleedin'. Sorry." Eggsy lifted up his foot, inspecting it. Harry placed it down on his own lap, lightly holding it by the ankle. He pressed Eggsy's foot back, using the back of his hand against the ball of his foot, to get a better look at the injury.

"It just looks like a few little cuts. You're lucky you didn't cut an artery or harm the muscle." Harry dipped some of the cotton wool in the water, then started lightly swabbing away at the blood covering his sole.

"Y'good at this." Eggsy gave a shy, tired smile.

"I wanted to be a doctor, growing up. I took all the exams, I was set to start my first year, and then I was volunteered for the role as Galahad." Harry gently dabbed the cotton around the wounds. "I also wanted to be a lepidopterist, but my father didn't really approve of that. So, doctor it was."

"Lep-i-dop-terist… That's one of those doctors that checks people's muffs, innit? Yeah… I can see why your dad didn't want you doin' that. Weird career." Eggsy jerked as Harry pressed down on the cut with the cotton ball. It almost felt like he did it on purpose.

"No, Eggsy. A lepidopterist studies butterflies and moths."

"Oh. Right. Yeah… Weird career still stands…"

The two went silent for a long while, Eggsy simply watching as Harry cleaned him and bandaged him up with great precision. Harry murmured something about how he'd be back to running in a few days, just take it easy at first though. He'd write Eggsy a note to get out of the early morning runs.

Eggsy stared up at Harry, and Harry looked back. They stayed like that for a moment, before Eggsy collapsed into his arms, gripping to Harry's shirt. "Ha-a-aaarry…"

"Oh, dear boy, what's the matter?" Harry lightly patted Eggsy's back. He'd never been good at consoling people.

"I- I thought I was a gonner! Thought you was gonna come in here- come in here and tell me to pack my shit and get lost!" Eggsy sobbed out, rubbing his face against Harry's chest, wiping his tears on his way too expensive suit.

"No, Eggsy. Like I said before, it was just a minor blip. I'll just have to teach you to fight without getting carried away, it's fine." Harry rested his chin on Eggsy's head. "You're alright…"

"Fuck… Shit, I… Fuck…" Eggsy whimpered, unable to put across his point. "I-I wanna make you proud, Harry… Wanna make my dad proud, too… Gettin' into stupid fights like that, I… Charlie was chattin' shit about my mum, she don't deserve it. I get enough of it from Poodle's gang already."

"I know, Eggsy." Harry carefully bundled Eggsy into his lap. After a moment, in which Harry thought Eggsy would flinch away and say something about thar being gay, Eggsy rested his head against his shoulder.

"Just wanna make you proud…"

Harry paused for a moment. "If it is of any consolidation…" He looked around, then glanced at the camera in the corner of the room. He lowered his voice. "I would have done the same thing."

Eggsy looked up at Harry, his eyes still big and shining with tears. "Really?"

"Yes. That was a horrible thing to say about someone's mother. Completely below the belt." Harry gently patted Eggsy's arm. "So… Although I must disagree with your actions from a mentor's standpoint… I would have probably done the same thing."

"Thanks, Harry…"

"You get some rest now, Eggsy. You've tired yourself out and you've got an exam in the morning."

"I need to get back to the dorms…" Eggsy moved to get up, but Harry pulled him back down.

"I'll carry you. I wouldn't want you putting weight on your injured foot, after all." Harry smiled down at Eggsy, then scooped him up, carrying him all the way back to the dorms while Eggsy fell asleep in his arms.