Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/12266712.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Underage, Rape/Non-Con
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Kingsman_(Movies)
  Relationship:
      Harry_Hart_|_Galahad/Gary_"Eggsy"_Unwin, Merlin/Gary_"Eggsy"_Unwin, Harry
      Hart_|_Galahad/Merlin/Gary_"Eggsy"_Unwin, Harry_Hart_|_Galahad/Merlin
  Character:
      Harry_Hart_|_Galahad, Merlin_(Kingsman), Gary_"Eggsy"_Unwin, Roxy_Morton
      |_Lancelot, Charlie_Hesketh, Chester_King_|_Arthur, Percival_(Kingsman),
      Bedivere_(Kingsman), Other_Kingsman_Character(s)
  Additional Tags:
      Underage_Sex, Underage_-_Freeform, Consensual_Underage_Sex, Blood_and
      Violence, Daddy_Kink, Panties, Anal_Sex, Oral_Sex, Sex_Toys, Public_Sex,
      Childhood, Attempted_Rape/Non-Con, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Dark_Harry, or_at
      least_darker_Harry
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-10-21 Updated: 2017-11-29 Chapters: 2/? Words: 13259
****** A debt that changed my life ******
by MudPie
Summary
     After conveying the news about Lee's death to Michelle Unwin, and
     having her son witness everything, Harry decided to do something
     about his situation. He watched the mother come down in a spiral of
     self-pity and addiction, and after watching them for a year, Harry
     gets five year old Eggsy out of his home to raise the boy himself.
     Of course Harry hadn't believed that raising a child in the Kingsman
     manor would be easy, but what he got to experience surpassed even his
     worst fears. He wouldn't have thought that he would get smitten by
     the boy and his bright eyes.
     Extreme underage fic. Starts with five year old Eggsy getting taken
     in by Harry, nothing happens until he's really thirteen though. There
     will be a lot of fluff in Eggsy's childhood before anything even
     starts for real.
     Please read the warnings though. I will put up warnings for each
     chapter. If you don't like, don't read.
Notes
     Alright, so... this happened. The story came straight from an rp
     (which I will go to hell for probably), which I then rewrote to make
     it into a real story. It is unbeta'd and I am not a native speaker.
     So if you find any mistakes, please let me know so I can correct
     them!
     So, it is an underage fic. Please notice this warning. There won't
     happen anything until Eggsy is around thirteen, but he will explore
     himself and figure out stuff before that. He will also be the one
     initiating. So warnings are here. I do not condone statutory rape and
     sex with minors in real life, this purely belongs to fantasy.
     There will also be a chapter where non-con will happen (not between
     main characters). I will give out warnings on each chapter so you can
     skip anything you don't like.
     There is a lot of fluff and childhood in the first few chapters. So,
     slow build with Harry trying to figure out how to parent and dragging
     Merlin along with him. Eggsy's speech is purposefully wrong.
See the end of the work for more notes
***** Chapter 1 *****
Lee's death had been unnecessary, unexpected, yet caused a lot of change in
little Eggsy's life. After Harry Hart, a man from the organisation his dad had
worked for, had told his mother that her husband wouldn't return, it had broken
her. She hadn’t recovered from her broken heart even after more than a year.
Needless to say that she hadn’t been able take care of her five year old son
anymore and Harry, who had not stopped watching them after the incident, had
had to watch in horror how the sweet child suffered that neglection. Maybe it
had been the boy’s eyes, Harry had wondered, that had sparked the feeling of
protectiveness in him. Eggsy’s eyes glistened brightly whenever he was playing
outside or in his room, making due with the only toy he had. Yet it could also
have been the overwhelming guilt of Lee’s death that had him motivated enough
to follow the child for the next year and a half.
It was a rainy day in London when strange, unknown men took the little boy out
of the filthy and grotty apartment. His mother did barely care for that though,
she was lying somewhere in another room, drunk and unconscious, unsuspecting of
what was happening behind her closed door.
The little boy clutched his dirty teddy to his chest as he looked up at all
those men surrounding him now. One could see he was intimidated, scared even,
his tiny body trembling under their gazes and the cold rain.
"Where is me mum..?" He asked, but was completely ignored.
"That is an idiotic idea. You can't possibly want to raise a child next to your
work. Are you out of your mind?" One of them hissed, at which the boy started
sobbing lightly and hid his face in the plush. “I know how risky it is to even
have a family outside of Kingsman and this here is beyond illegal even.”
"Voice down Percival. It's just a child." Lancelot raised a brow at which the
other shrugged helplessly.
Harry of course knew that Percival was right. The man had a small daughter
himself, a family, but there was no way that Harry would leave the boy behind,
not after having his father sacrifice his life for Harry’s. They all owed him
that. He needed to get Lee’s son out of this, set him on a right path. Maybe he
could even join Kingsman someday. Whatever option Gary Unwin would take though,
Harry would make sure that he would have all the chances he deserved.
"Shhhh... It will be alright." Harry bowed down next to the child, brown eyes
crinkling at the edges, a warm smile on his lips. "What's your name?" He asked
in a soft tone, trying to sooth him a bit while shrugging off his suit's
jacket, gently laying it around the boy's small frame. It was getting colder
these days and the little one wasn't dressed accordingly. They had simply
gotten the child out while securing the area, not taking any of his belongings
with them. The young Unwin looked up at him, but not yet saying a word. Harry
of course knew the boy’s name, he knew a lot after watching him for over a
year, but he wanted to sooth him at least somewhat.
The little boy was still clutching the teddy to his chest when he turned to
look around, his gaze switching from face to face, only to fix on Harry’s.
“Eggsy…” The boy said and wanted to go on, but stopped and winced when behind
him the other man started to discuss something in rather loud voices. Eggsy
pinched his eyes closed and started sobbing for real then, big tears building
in the corners of his eyes and dripping down his cheeks.
"Yeah great work there Lancelot." Percival sneered and shook his head, giving
Harry a shrug, unsure what to do about the situation as a whole. The agent had
way more experience with children, but apparently had no desire to express that
now.
“This is a dangerous game you’re playing, Galahad. We have no clue how his
mother will react. If she will go to the police, report him as missing, then
this will degenerate into something completely different.”
Harry frowned but only briefly took his gaze off the boy in front him, one hand
resting on his shoulder for support. Of course Harry had known about the
possible consequences beforehand.
“We will inform her under certain conditions, Merlin will have documents set up
to easily provide information about her neglect. We pretend to act as child
protective services.”
“She will want to see him though.” Percival chided in, not yet convinced.
“Not necessarily.” Harry muttered under his breath, both other agents
exchanging a look, knowing clearly what Galahad was aiming at. And yes, he was
ready to do whatever it may take to keep her away from this boy, nurturing her
drinking habit would be easy enough. Even if he had to let Michelle disappear,
he would do it for Eggsy’s future.
“And what about Arthur? He will not condone kidnapping and that particular
child running around on Kingsman ground, he-”
"How about you all just shut your mouth for a minute and let me handle what is
clearly my business once it becomes a problem?" Harry grumbled, tone stern. "I
will take care of it, don’t concern yourselves with details." He decided,
before he bowed down to Eggsy to be on his height, gently laying his arm around
him. "Everything’s alright." He whispered softly, pulling out a tissue and
carefully wiping the tears off the boy's cheek. "I promise that nobody will
hurt you."
The two agents behind him gave Galahad a nod before they walked back to their
respective cars. Harry had been glad that they had promised their help, out of
debt for previous favours asked, yet having them here was not benefiting the
boy’s well-being or his mood right now. He would deal with the consequences
later, would probably only receive a slap on his wrists from Arthur. The young
boy was still sobbing in Harry’s arms though, his eyes still closed tightly.
"Mommy, want to mommy..." Harry sighed through his nose and brushed a hand over
Eggsy’s hair. How to explain to a five year old that his mother was neglecting
him and drinking herself to sleep every night?
"Your mother currently needs a bit of help. That is why we bring you to a place
you will be safe and where you’re taken care of. Is that okay?” The child
looked up at him skeptically, obviously not sold on the idea to leave his
mother. Harry hadn’t expected anything but. He wiped another crocodile tear off
Eggsy's cheek, before he carefully cupped it with his hand, his thumb stroking
over the soft skin. “My name is Harry. Don’t worry, you will be able to see her
very soon.” It was a lie for the boy’s comfort, even though Harry had no
inclination to make that promise come true. He would do anything to keep her
away.
"When?" The small child huffed out, suddenly angry, but the tremble of his lips
were indication enough that he was on the brink of crying still. "Mommy-" The
teddy muffled a lot of sound when Eggsy started weeping for real, but it was
still rather loud.
"As soon as possible. Come on, Eggsy. I will get you somewhere warm." Harry
breathed, his hand on Eggsy's back as he led him to the car, not wanting to
force the boy, wanting him to move on his own. Otherwise this would be the
worst start possible.
The young child moved, but it didn't help sooth him any. His face was still
buried completely in the teddy's head, the plush absorbing tears and sobs. Once
at the car, Harry opened up the door to the passenger's seat and helped Eggsy
get inside, fastening the seat belt, making sure that also the boy's teddy was
secured and sending the boy a little smile. Judged by Eggsy’s behaviour, this
was going to be a long drive home. They couldn’t take the underground bullet,
Eggsy wasn’t supposed to know about his real occupation until he would be old
enough. When they arrived at the Kingsman manor, Harry stayed completely
silent; the child had fallen asleep and he didn't plan on waking him unless he
had to. He hoped the boy would grow out of missing his mother soon, even though
he had little hope in that department for the moment. So once the car was
parked, he went over to get Eggsy out, lifting him up into his arms and locking
the car. It was astonishing that children were able to sleep through, even when
they were picked up. And with the boy leaning against his chest, one hand in
the soft hair, Harry went inside, nodding at Merlin who held the door open for
him. Of course his handler had been informed about Harry’s plan beforehand, he
was more than a friend, more a partner in crime really. Merlin would probably
not agree to his idea of raising the boy here, considering him playing a role
whenever Harry would be away to work, but he did nothing to voice his
discontent anyway. Their mutual understanding of asking for favours had made
them accepting of each other’s flaws and needs pretty early in their tenure, so
Harry wasn’t really bothered by the frown on Merlin’s face.
"Did you get everything?" Harry asked in a whisper, at which Merlin nodded.
"Almost. Clothes are there, toys too. Only the... food you asked for will
arrive tomorrow." They walked in silence until Merlin put a hand on Harry’s
arm, stopping him. “Why here? Why not take him home?”
Harry had thought about that for a long while and he started walking again,
knowing Merlin would join in his stride.
“I know that Arthur would want the boy close, with how much of a liability he
is. Arthur wants his every step controlled, and I will give him that,
considering that I will have to be off duty for the time being. See it as a
compromise. I believe Eggsy would also enjoy the company of others once I start
going on missions again. I can’t have him be alone at my home. Yet I won’t show
him the basement.” The boy would solely be in their living quarters. Harry
would ensure that Eggsy would believe this mansion to be just that. He would
know only about the ground-floor, everything else would be off limits.
Merlin gave a sharp nod, one corner of his mouth quirking up in a half-smirk.
“And you practically live here for the last few months anyway.” Harry gave his
friend an unimpressed look, Merlin was part of that problem after all, but
nodded either way. Merlin had sent him on a number of missions to keep him
busy, and Harry had never bothered to go home for just the mandatory wait
between missions. There was no one waiting for him there.
"Thank you, Merlin. I will introduce my home to him when time comes though. He
can see it as a holiday chalet of some sorts. Or we’ll have it the other way
around when he gets older. But I fear he will not like it much."
Merlin didn’t bother hiding the cheeky grin on his lips.
“Dead animals are not really a child’s favourite, I gather.”
“Thank you for your help, Merlin.” Harry pressed out through his lips, his tone
remaining playful though.
The two men parted ways soon after and it didn’t take long until Harry arrived
at his quarters. Harry had to smile when he saw that there was a little army of
plushies sitting on his bed, Merlin had gone overboard with that sort of thing,
unsuspectedly, and he needed to make a bit room for the two of them, even
though he was sure that the boy would appreciate it. He went over to place
Eggsy on the bed, gently stroking through his hair while taking his jacket off
the boy. He would not wake him for today, hoping that he would simply sleep
through. The day had been stressful enough for him. So Harry simply pulled the
blanket over the tiny body and allowed himself to relax for now. He himself
would sleep on the couch tonight. The bed would be big enough for them both,
but he didn't want to scare the young one if he woke up next to a stranger.
Harry woke with a start, his back hurting and his mind fuzzy enough to not
recognize right away what the strange sound coming from the bed were. Within
just about half a second, ignoring the pain that radiated through his neck,
Harry was up and about, walking over to the bed, seeing the small child crying.
For a moment he had forgotten that the boy had been there. Harry sat down on
the edge of the bed, carefully placing his hand on Eggsy’s shoulder, hoping
that it would sooth him at least somewhat.
"Hush, it's me, remember? Harry." He breathed out, feeling bad for himself and
the boy. He was probably scared, felt alone after waking up alone in an
unfamiliar place and was now bawling his eyes out. Harry wanted to never hear
that sound again, although he would probably hear it quite the few times until
the boy would be old enough or start to trust him. He hoped for it to be the
latter. It would hopefully not take as long. The sobbing stopped for a second
when he realized that someone was there, Eggsy actually opened his eyes and
looking at the tall man, regarding him before the weeping began anew. Words
like 'mommy' and 'home' were somewhere in there, Harry could hear them in
between the sobs. The boy crying was so intense that Eggsy even had to cough
because of it.
No one had warned him that it would be this tiring to deal with a child, and
yet, Harry felt like reassuring Eggsy, like taking care of him, so he stroked
over the soft hair to get his attention again.
"It's alright, your mum is fine. Eggsy is it, right? Come, come here." He
opened his arms, offering the boy to cuddle up. Now he really just hoped that
Eggsy would take that invitation. Much to his surprise, the child almost
instinctively leaned into him, apparently needing physical contact, affection
more important than distrusting a stranger. He was still crying, one tiny hand
fisted in Harry’s shirt while the other was clinging to the teddy. Harry laid
his arms around him, soothingly rubbing circles onto his back.
"See, Eggsy, your mother is currently not feeling well. She isn't able to take
care of you. So I will do that instead. Is that okay for you?" Harry breathed,
holding the boy close as he tried to explain the situation the easiest way
possible. The child didn’t need to know any specifics. Later maybe, but not
now. He might even be able to use it to his own benefit.
"Nou, wan’ me mommy back." The boy sobbed, but his voice was getting more
quiet. It was clear to Harry that the child couldn't understand what the other
was trying to convey to him, simply because the mother was everything to a
child this age, even if she was unfit to care for him the way he needed it.
Eggsy couldn’t see it in any rational way. It would take a lot of time for him
to warm up to someone else but his mother, but Harry knew he would come around
eventually. At least that was what Percival had told him. And the internet
seemed to agree.
"How about I show you the house, Eggsy? Would you like that?" Harry asked
whisperingly, pulling away just enough to gently dry the boy's face with his
sleeve, smiling at him. It would serve as a good distraction for the both of
them. The boy shook his head firmly and continued to simply sit there and let
Harry’s shirt dry his tears. He probably didn't really listen at all, but also
didn't move away or push Harry away from him, which was a good sign. Harry gave
a soft sigh but the child’s mood didn’t dampen his own. He would take him
anyway, it was still early so they wouldn't run into many people. Which was
probably for the best considering that Eggsy was triggered easily at the
moment. So Harry, still dressed in yesterday’s clothes, lifted the boy up into
his arms, helping him getting comfortable up there.
"Are you hungry, Eggsy?" He asked him while he got up and went over to the
door, leaving the room and locking it behind them.Thankfully the boy had almost
stopped crying by now, the big tears were still on his round cheeks though. One
tiny hand was holding on to Harry's neck, nails digging into the skin there,
but Harry ignored it. Eggsy shook his head then in answer and Harry could call
bollocks on that, yet nodded anyway. The boy had to be hungry. He would simply
show him the kitchen and coax him into eating some cereal. Thanks to Merlin
there should be enough food to fit Eggsy’s taste.
"Look, from here you can see the woods." Harry breathed when he stepped over to
the next window. It showed the gardens and the kennels with the adjoining
forest in the background. If all hell broke loose, Harry would simply show
Eggsy the dogs. "Do you like forests, Eggsy?"
The boy was still looking rather sad and sceptical, his free hand up by his
mouth, bringing teddy up with it.
"Nou..." He murmured but still looked out of the window.
"So it is really true what they say." Came from behind them then, Kay frowning
slightly. "Don't you think he'll be better off in a family?"
Harry rolled his eyes behind closed lids and turned around to face the agent,
obviously not happy with his thoughts on that matter. Eggsy was pushing his
face into Harry's shoulder, whimpering lightly when he met the other man’s
gaze.
"No, I don't in fact." Harry retorted, managing to keep his voice low as he
turned towards Kay, expression neutral. "And if you are so concerned for his
well-being, you can discuss the state of affairs with Arthur." His hand was in
Eggsy's hair now, gently stroking through it, calming his own protectiveness
more than the boy in his arms. The child snuggled up more to Harry, little
puffs of warm breath fanning on Harry's neck while both hands were now clawing
at his neck. He needed a sense of safety, obviously, and Harry would not let
anyone get between them.
"No need to get defensive, you know it's not my place to decide on this, but-
Harry, you can't just keep the kid just like that. Does Arthur know even?" Kay
said while looking worried. They all knew that Merlin and Galahad were covering
for each other, but even with Merlin’s help it would be hard to persuade the
old man.
“Arthur will get informed once I took care that Eggsy is feeling better. His
well-being is my first priority. We will make it official soon."
The boy peeked out of the man's shoulder before quickly hiding again. Harry
found it utterly adorable.
"That's not what I meant. Yet, we, or you in particular, are not the boy's
custodian. So this is kidnapping, no matter if you say you will handle that."
He sighed then and looked away. "Make sure that you tell Arthur before someone
sees and possibly preempt you." This said, Kay turned, shaking his head.
Easy to see that Harry wasn’t taking lightly to such threats. Kay meant well,
he usually did. The younger agent had a nephew of his own and probably wondered
how a child would cope with this particular environment, yet Harry had no will
to even listen to this nonsense. The boy couldn’t have stayed in that dirty
apartment, with a drinking mother and no food on the table. And since neither
him nor Merlin were exposable, Harry had little fear that Arthur would do
anything too problematic for the both of them.
"Don't listen to him, Eggsy." He whispered then, still stroking over Eggsy's
head when he went down the corridor, letting the boy get a good look at
everything.
Eggsy slowly started looking around again, his hands staying on Harry and his
teddy though. Yet, whenever they met someone, the little boy hid his face in
Harry's shoulder. Harry had to admit to himself that this shy side of the child
was quite endearing. It was when they had went around for some time that Eggsy
started stirring more and more, the small hands tugging on his clothes, making
Harry look down in confusion.
"Do you want to go on your own, Eggsy?" Harry asked, somewhat surprised by the
stirring. Though on second thought, maybe he was just hungry? Or had to pee?
There were a few options and Harry felt helpless, not knowing what the small
child wanted. Eggsy looked troubled, lips pressed firmly together while he
furrowed his brows.
"Have to pee..." Eggsy murmured and shifted again on the other's arms. Oh.
Harry was quick making his way to the toilets nearby, but the small boy hadn't
been able to hold it that long. Harry could feel the warm liquid run down his
arm and stomach and closed his eyes to breath through; this was a child, it had
to be expected. Yet this was still something that he had not anticipated or
looked forward to. It became worse when Eggsy started crying again, his teddy
dropping to the floor and Harry sighed softly, schooling his expression to not
startle him further.
"It's quite alright, Eggsy, don't cry. We will get you out of this and into
some freshly washed clothes, how does that sound?" He breathed, having taken
the teddy from the ground as he now went back to his room.
He didn’t get a reaction from the boy, but it hadn’t been needed anyway. Harry
would need to make him take a bath and redress him either way. Once inside, he
locked the door behind them and went over to the bathroom, where he gently let
Eggsy down.
"Can you undress yourself, or would you like help with that?" Harry asked then,
the teddy now sitting on the edge of the bathtub so it would be in Eggsy's
reach while he had his hands free. Perfect actually; he could let Eggsy take a
bath and wash the teddy during that. Hand-washed it would at least stay fluffy
and lose the foul odor that lingered on it.
Eggsy’s head was hanging, just as his arms on each side of his body. He looked
beaten and Harry didn’t quite understand why until he spoke up a minute later.
"Please not be angy..." The boy whimpered in a pleading voice. It was obvious
that he expected to get punished for this and it scared Harry to think about
where the child had picked up the notion of punishment for such a mishap.
"I am not angry, Eggsy.” Harry assured with a soft smile on his lips. ” It
happens. Even to adults if they just aren't quick enough." He chuckled and
turned the water on, adding a good amount of shower gel to make it a bubble
bath. He had seen a lot of people defecating on themselves when they had been
scared for their life. He had caused that horror, so Harry had little problem
with a boy peeing himself. Harry gently made Eggsy raise his arms to get his
small sweatshirt over his head and off before he did the same to his singlet.
Big blue eyes looked up at him when he kept on undressing Eggsy. At least the
boy had no quarrels with that. When the child was naked then, Eggsy simply
stood there, not really knowing what he should do.
"Time for a nice bath, come here, Eggsy." Harry carefully lifted the boy onto
the tub's edge, letting him first hold his feet inside to get used to the
temperature before he helped him sitting down in it. He took the boy's teddy
then, offering it to him. "Does he have a name?" He wanted to know, smiling
down at the boy. The way to Eggsy’s heart was definitely going through his only
possession.
"Teddy." Eggsy murmured and pulled the plush to his chest, at which it started
getting wet. Harry thanked all deities there could possibly be that the thing
would get clean now. Eggsy didn't really seem to mind though, neither the
stench nor the wetness. "Have him from daddy." He chirped and ducked him
underwater a few times, his eyes lighting up a bit. It brought a sad smile onto
Harry's lips, but it vanished a moment later when he scooped some water over
the plushie’s head.
"Wash him good, will you? I will get you fresh clothes and will be back in a
minute." He explained, standing up and being quick to look through the clothes
Merlin had gotten them.
He could hear the boy laughing and water splashing after a minute and it
brought a smile onto his lips again. That sound made it worth the hassle. Harry
quickly stripped himself and disposed of his dirty clothing before getting into
a bit more comfortable things. Merlin really had gotten everything Harry
noticed when he looked into a few boxes. Even shampoo that wouldn't burn in the
little one's eyes. So, the little pile of clothing in one hand and the shampoo
in the other, Harry came back and chuckled when he saw what had happened in the
meantime. The child had managed to flood the bathroom floor.
"Do you still have water in there?" Harry asked, smirking, and put the clothes
far enough away so they wouldn't get wet before he went back to Eggsy's side.
"I can give you some soap so you can wash him properly, but try not to get it
into your eyes, okay?" He murmured then, taking the shower gel and Eggsy’s
small hand to pour a tiny amount of gel onto it.
"He dun need sop." The boy mumbled and made sounds as he moved the bear through
the water as if it was a airplane. "Bears dun wash with sop."
"Alright then. But little Eggsys do." Harry commented and held his hands into
the water to warm them up, before he gently began to wash Eggsy with a flannel,
glad to see him getting clean. The way the child had looked before had been
off-putting to say the least. It wasn't what a child should be looking like.
Maybe after a fun day outside in the dirt, yes, but not just because the mother
wasn't able to bath them. He had no experience raising children, yet he had the
feeling that he would do a better job than Michelle, no matter her
circumstances. The reason why he had gotten Eggsy out of there in the first
place.
"I need you to sit still for a moment, I don't want the shampoo to get into
your eyes." Harry breathed in a soft tone, smiling at Eggsy who was nodding
lightly. "Tilt your head up a little bit, please." He squeezed some of the
shampoo onto his palm, waiting for the boy to do as told before rubbing it into
his sculp. Eggsy obviously enjoyed it, his eyes closing while Harry massaged
the shampoo into those soft blonde strands.
"Good boy." Harry used his one hand to stroke back the soft hair and kept it on
the boy's forehead to keep the shampoo from running into his face. And once he
was sure that Eggsy’s hair was clean, he used luke-warm water to carefully
rinse it out again.
Eggsy still shook his head and splashed water drops onto Harry before he looked
up again, strands of hair hanging everywhere. He really was an adorable child.
"When back home?" The boy asked then and took hold of his teddy again, making
Harry’s smile turn bitter.
"I don't know yet. When your mother gets healthy again. She’s very sick at the
moment." Harry promised, gently washing the boy's back now, silently thankful
that Eggsy didn’t seem to want to argue about it. He might have noticed that
something was off about her behavior as well.
Once that was done he sat down on the ground next to the tub, like that being
able to keep an eye on Eggsy. Funny how the teddy bear was enough to keep him
busy. Only when the water started to get cold, Eggsy started to grouse, yet
didn't say what was wrong though. Harry wondered if that had to do with the
fact that Michelle had neither spoken much to the child, nor had taken him to
meet other kids regularly or putting him in a day care. Harry had watched their
daily life often enough to know that. She hadn’t spoken much to Eggsy in the
last year, simply drowning herself in booze and parking him in front of the
telly. The aftermath of this was obvious. Eggsy now only pulled a face as if he
wanted to cry instead of talking to him and tried to stand up in the tub a
second later. Harry stood immediately to stabilize him, a deep frown on his
features.
"Oh, no, don't. I don't want you to slip and hurt yourself." Harry said and
hurried to get the biggest, fluffiest towel he could find. That in hand, he
helped Eggsy out of the tub and wrapped it around him to rub him dry. "You can
just tell me if something is wrong, okay? Tell me if you need to pee, if you
are hungry or cold or tired. Can you do that, Eggsy?" Harry asked in a low
voice, hoping that the child would comply. Eggsy looked troubled by the request
though and looked down, as if he wasn't sure whether he could do that. He
shrugged with his shoulders then, it was such a tiny gesture because of that
big towel.
"Mommy al'ays tuld me t'be quiet." Eggsy murmured in reply, eyes down on the
ground.
Harry felt the urge to have a talk with Michelle Unwin for doing this to her
son.
"You don't have to be quiet. I need to know when you are unwell, Eggsy. Else I
can't help you. And we don't want to have such accidents all the time, right?
So if you know what you need and want, tell me about it." Harry tried again and
cupped the boy’s cheek with his hands, smiling warmly at him.. He had never
believed that he could simply feel affection for the boy; he had wanted to care
for him due to his debt to Lee, but now it made him incredibly content that
Eggsy was nodding after only a moment of hesitation. Maybe this could turn out
alright in the end.
"Okay." Eggsy murmured sheepishly and looked up with big puppy eyes. "I'm
hungry..." He whispered into the towel, trying to hide from the world.
"Then we will get you some breakfast. Teddy will have to stay here though, so
his fur can dry fully. We want him to be proper after all, right?" Harry got
another towel and placed it on the heater. "Here, he can sit here and wait for
you to return. Nice and cozy." It was silly to address a plushie as a person,
but if it helped Eggsy, Harry would do all the silly things in the world.
"But I can' go withou’ teddy." The child pouted, his towel wrapped hand
reaching out for the soaking wet plush to press it against the towel around his
chest. "Dun wan' to go withou teddy..."
"Don't you think he will be uncomfortable if everyone outside sees him like
this? Give him time to dry and later we will groom him so he can show off his
beautiful fur. Just look at him, it's hanging all over his eyes. He can't even
see” Harry chuckled, at which the boy looked up at him again. “Come on Eggsy,
he knows where we are, right? And we will be back soon. Until then he can
sleep." Harry reached out a hand towards Eggsy but didn't take the plush from
him, instead wanting him to hand it out on his own. Good thing that children
that age were easily manipulated.
Eggsy stilled for a moment before slowly turning to place the teddy back onto
the heater, needing to get onto his tiptoes for doing that.
"Yeh neeto stay 'ere teddy." He announced and scurried over to Harry, one hand
holding onto his pants.
Harry smiled at him warmly, then dried off what the teddy had made wet again
and helped the boy redress. Eggsy had claimed to be able to do it himself, but
Harry had taken great pleasure in having the small boy laugh when he
accidentally tickled him. He would remember that. With his hair washed and
fresh clothes on Eggsy looked far better already.
"Alright, let's go and get you something to eat, shall we?"
The small boy stood there as if he was lost, frowning at Harry, who could read
easily that something was on his mind.
"Who are you?" The boy asked all of a sudden, not knowing anything but his name
of course. "You know me mommy?"
Oh well. What a topic. Obviously his hunger was not enough to not drop it.
"I knew your daddy. He's been a friend of mine. And a colleague. We worked
together." Harry explained and got into his shoes. "But what’s important is
that I am a friend and my name is Harry Hart. And you are safe with me." He
offered his hand to the boy and relaxed visibly when the boy took it. The small
gesture of trust was quickly ruined though when Eggsy opened his mouth again.
"You look like daddy. Where is daddy?"
Harry sighed lightly, feeling exhausted from the questions but didn’t let the
emotion settle onto his face.
"Your mother didn't tell you?" He asked then, before he carefully placed his
hand on Eggsy's back, leading him over to the bed, where he sat down and helped
Eggsy to do the same next to him. "Did she not speak to you about him, Eggsy?"
Well of course not. Michelle had her ways with avoiding responsibility. Eggsy
frowned, didn't know what the other meant by that.
"Mommy said he be back soon." Eggsy stammered, but one could already see that
the child was somewhat suspicious. Rightfully so, Harry would be honest to him.
He exhaled, thinking about how to word this. He didn’t want to hurt him, but
better help the boy over it now.
"Eggsy. Your father won't come back." Harry stated in a low voice, his
expression sad as he watched the boy. Blue eyes blinked for a moment, it took
some seconds before the small child even understood those words.
"Mommy said he be back." Eggsy declared while his eyes filled with tears,
desperately trying to defend the picture of his mother in his head. A second
later Eggsy held his hands before his face and started crying loudly. "I want
ma daddy!"
Harry was quick to pull the boy into a hug, hands soothingly stroking over his
back. But he didn't try to make him stop crying. Eggsy deserved to know the
truth and he would give him all the time needed to get over his father's death,
even when Eggsy hammered his tiny fists against the Harry's shoulders and
chest. Even after minutes of Eggsy crying there wasn’t a hint of him stopping
all too soon. Without saying a word Harry lifting the boy up into his arms. He
didn't care that his shirt would get wet or end up getting wrinkled all over.
Eggsy needed contact, needed support, and he would deliver.
"It's time you get something to eat." Harry decided and didn't stop stroking
over the child's back as he carried him along the corridors a moment later,
heading towards the smaller kitchen. They had a cafeteria one floor down, but
he wasn’t going to take him there. Harry would keep his work a secret for as
long as he could so that Eggsy could have a nice childhood here.
Eggsy’s face was red from crying when they arrived at the kitchen, cheeks
flushed and eyes wet, but Harry ignored it on purpose, not wanting him to be
embarrassed for crying. Two agents were there, Bedivere and Gawain, who were
staring at Harry now, or well, more at Eggsy than him in fact. Apparently they
hadn't gotten the news.
"What-"
"Uhm, Galahad, I didn't know that you were a father."
Eggsy turned his face into Harry’s neck, effectively hiding from the two men.
Letting Eggsy down onto a chair, Harry then turned his head towards the other
agents, his hand stroking through the Eggsy's hair while he stayed close to
him.
"He isn't my son, he’s Lee's." Harry explained and could see the realization
dawning on his colleagues’ faces. Now he just hoped that Eggsy would still eat,
despite other people being present. Lee’s name caused the boy sob again though,
and he even coughed when he choked on his own spit. The agents were glancing at
each other, exchanging thoughts without speaking up. Gawain winced at a
particularly loud sob then.
"Well, shit." Bedivere said and pressed his lips into a line, obviously not as
smitten with the child as Harry was.
"Alright, but- I didn't know they could get that loud. What have you been doing
with him here?" Gawain grinned cheekily, obviously teasing.
"So you won't do missions anymore, Galahad? I feel that will be quite the
effort to keep from him or explain on the other hand."
"Not for the time being. I can't leave him alone. And I guess missions will
have to wait until he is old enough. At least those outside the UK. Unless
someone else is ready to play the nanny." Harry countered with a raised brow
when he gave Eggsy's head another gentle caress and went over to the fridge to
get out milk, and a bowl and cereals after that. At least Eggsy was at an age
where he could eat properly on his own. That made things easier. Standing
closer to his colleagues, he narrowed his eyes at them. "I just revealed to him
why his father won't come back, so bear with him. Better not talk about it."
That said he returned to Eggsy and placed everything on the table before
getting him a spoon. Harry sat down on the chair next to him, filling some
cereals into the bowl. Merlin needed a medal for getting fruit loops,
seriously, and Harry wondered whether he had researched the fact that children
loved these or whether the man might have a guilty pleasure he didn’t know
about.
Eggsy though showed no sign of wanting to eat anymore, tears dripping down his
face at the mention of his father. Bedivere and Gawain exchanged looks, with
the former shaking his head.
"Don't count on me with that." Bedivere grimaced and went past the two to leave
the kitchen with his coffee in hand. “Children are not my forte.”
"That's- yeah good luck with that, hm?" Gawain smiled awkwardly before he
followed his colleague, very much fleeing from the scene and the sound of a
weeping child.
Harry looked after them, not having expected anything else. Of course they
wouldn’t help out with caring for him. At least they wouldn’t inform Arthur
about Eggsy. It was a good thing that most of them had each other’s back due to
their work and some owed favours, even though they might not get along
personally otherwise.
"Eggsy, I know how you are feeling, it’s alright to cry, but you need to eat
something now. Can you do that for me, please?" Harry breathed calmly, trying
his best to not make any doubts or negative emotion show on his face. He wanted
Eggsy to feel better, and he would after getting something in his stomach. Yet,
much to Harry’s displeasure, Eggsy shook his head and pushed the bowl away from
him.
"I dun want! I want to mommy! Mommy!" Eggsy shouted and tried to get down from
the chair, only to fall onto his knees. Eggsy's crying changed there, the
tantrum forgotten because of the slight pain from the fall.
Harry was down on his knee before him within a second, helping Eggsy getting
back up and allowing him to sit on his knee. He had to admit though that this
was better than having him cry over a dead parent.
"Shh... Does it hurt?" He asked in a soft tone, even though it probably didn't
really hurt at all. "Eggsy, right now you can't go back to her, but I will tell
her that she can visit you at any time, okay?" This blatant lie would hopefully
calm Eggsy down.
Eggsy was pushing his face into the Harry’s shoulder, tears caught by the
fabric of his shirt. He nodded though, the sobbing slowly ebbing up.
"O-okay." Eggsy whispered at which Harry silently smiled to himself and stroked
over Eggsy’s head again to calm him down further.
"Would you like to eat now?"
The small boy nodded again but didn't really make a move to get away from
Harry. No, he was rather clinging to him suddenly. Maybe it had something to do
with how Harry looked; he also was almost the same age as Lee, just a tad
older, so Eggsy was probably taking him as the next best male idol. Eggsy was
probably scared of losing him as well.
"Alright then." Harry breathed out, lifting Eggsy up fully and sitting down on
the chair himself, allowing him to sit on his lap this time.
Harry pulled the bowl back towards them and added put some cereals into it,
followed by the milk. He offered Eggsy the spoon then, knowing that he should
be able to eat by himself. Harry had watched often how Eggsy had had to do that
by himself. And surely enough Eggsy did take the spoon. It was still rather
messy though, milk dripping down onto the table and down his chin while he
tried to eat the fruit loops but it amused Harry enough to not interfere much,
only holding the bowl in place to make it easier for the boy to get some on his
spoon.
"Good boy." Harry praised at some point, his free hand gently carding through
the boy's soft hair. He wondered if it would get easier over time to take care
of him. Harry certainly hoped so, but this was already a step forward.
***** The nanny *****
Chapter Summary
     Harry has to leave for the first time in weeks. Merlin is not
     thrilled.
Chapter Notes
     It is up!
     Finally. University and work were hell for me these past weeks and I
     was so busy, but here is the second chapter! I am already planing the
     third so I do hope that you don't have to wait just as long. I'll try
     to upload it until Christmas.
     I also want to thank you all for the support, I was really happy that
     you guys liked the beginning so far!
     If you find any mistakes, feel free to tell me, it helps me a lot!
See the end of the chapter for more notes
After about two weeks, with Eggsy still crying from time to time, the boy had
at least stopped screaming for his mom or dad. This didn’t mean that he was
less of a nuisance to other people though. Now Eggsy was clinging to Harry,
taking him as his only reference person, which increasingly grew into a
problem, since the boy started crying whenever Harry was gone for even a
minute. Harry only needed to set him onto the ground for Eggsy to start
sobbing. It was just a phase, they were sure, and everyone, even Harry, hoped
that it wouldn’t take long to subside again. It hadn’t mattered much for the
time Harry had been on vacation, but Harry would start working again soon, and
even with all the effort put into the boy, he would simply not believe that
Harry would return to him once he would leave. Normal for a child who had his
father dying and his mother not taking proper care of him, yet quite pesky when
business was concerned.
Three weeks went by with Harry showing Eggsy the entire mansion and introducing
him to the people inside it, with quite a few agents and staff members taking a
liking in the small boy. And while Harry was rather enjoying the newly found
bond between the child and him, it was Merlin who wasn’t looking overly fond
when he spotted the agent and his soon to be adopted son. Merlin had helped him
with pulling the strings for a lot of official matters and yet Harry had asked
him for another favour. A deep frown set on the handler’s face and Harry had to
hide the smirk behind a professional facade when he stepped closer.
"Eggsy, I am going to be back by tomorrow, okay? Teddy promised me to watch
over you. Merlin is nice, really. You can trust him." Harry reassured, at which
Merlin raised a brow in question. It was good that Harry was only assigned the
missions in London for the time being, more than a day with the crying child
would be too tedious to endure for everyone involved. He just hoped that it
would stay by one day. Looking up, Harry met Merlin’s gaze and sighed. "Don't
look at me like that, Merlin. One day the stress will make you lose your hair."
"Funny, Galahad." His colleague deadpanned before focusing on the slightly
distraught boy in Harry’s arms.
Eggsy needed a moment to even understand what Harry meant with that, but he
quickly shook his head, hands tightening in Harry's shirt, teddy getting
squished between them. The child obviously didn't want to hear any of this. The
little nose and mouth pushed against Harry's neck, effectively hiding his face
as the boy mumbled something in protest and Harry let him have him have his
moment before putting Eggsy down onto the ground. Eggsy immediately started
screaming like a banshee.
"Remind me again why I have to do this." Merlin grimaced, gently placing his
one hand on Eggsy's shoulder to try and soothe him, only to pull it away again
when he realized that it made the screaming only worse.
"Take it as a favour asked. And because I couldn’t think of anyone else who is
as trustworthy as you are." Harry winked and turned his attention back to
Eggsy, now cupping the boy's cheeks, making the sobbing stop for at least a few
seconds. "Eggsy, it will be fine. You will be fine. And I will be back soon.
You have my word. I promise it."
While Eggsy had stopped crying briefly when Harry had touched him, he began
weeping anew as soon as Harry was done speaking. Especially after Harry had
told the boy that his father would not come back, the small child didn't want
to let go of Harry even for a minute. The fact that Harry would leave for real
was making Eggsy’s little world collapse and neither of the two men knew how to
change his belief without making him experience that it was quite normal for
adults and parents especially to leave for a certain time.
"Nou-" Eggsy whined, hands holding onto Harry's sleeve.
"Eggsy, he has to go. It’s his job." Merlin threw in, while Harry freed his
sleeves as gently as possible.
"Yes, and it won't take long." Harry reassured, a smile on his face.
"Nou... please." The child was begging now, the saddest little pout on his
face. "I dun wanna you leave..." Eggsy begged and reached a hand out for Harry
before he was lifted up by Merlin, much to his displeasure.
Harry hated to see the boy this sad and brought his hand up once more to gently
stroke over his back.
"I promise, Eggsy. Merlin will be there for you and maybe he even has some toys
you can play with as well." Harry breathed, offering a little smile. He knew
that Merlin had brought a lot of toys and blankets over to his office, so he
hoped that Eggsy would start forgetting about him not being there once he would
see them. "Is that okay?"
Despite the constant reassurance Eggsy still didn't seem overly happy and he
turned to look at Harry, eyes teary. Instead of saying something, he just shook
his head, little hands reaching out for Harry. It broke Harry’s heart, but the
boy was no toddler anymore and would have to learn that people had to leave, no
matter for what reason. It was only a small mission inside London anyway,
squeezing some juicy details out of a corrupt politician who was trying to get
their associate elected as major. Nothing fancy or elaborate. It wouldn’t take
him more than a night. Offering Eggsy his hand one more time, Harry smiled
confidently, trying to project positivity for the boy.
"It's not going to be a long time, Eggsy." Merlin murmured then, a gesture that
Harry wouldn’t have expected from the easily annoyed man. Usually Merlin
avoided anything bothersome, but apparently he tried for Harry’s sake. "If
you’re good we might be able to talk to Harry later on.”
Eggsy turned to look at Merlin, yet his expression didn’t change. He still
looked miserable but only sniffed instead of crying full-on. Fortunately, else
Merlin would have probably shoved the boy back at Harry immediately, claiming
that he would be too much of a hindrence for his work.
"Hm..." Eggsy just grumbled and now hid his face in Merlin's chest, needing to
hold on to something, to get a bit of support. Both men exchanged a look, with
Harry pondering whether he should feel relieved or jealous. Apparently Eggsy
was alright with staying with Merlin, which was good, of course, but it still
made Harry think about being replaced. A ridiculous thought after only a few
weeks of having Eggsy here, but Harry had begun to adore the child more than
what was probably good. The obsession was mutual. Merlin gave Harry a nod then,
dragging him from his thoughts and making him smile and turn after a moment,
silently leaving.
Merlin looked after his colleague for what felt like the longest time before he
realized that he couldn’t keep standing on the corridor with a tear-stained
child in his arms. At least not if he didn’t want to be the laughing stock of
the whole facility. The other agents would take a piss out of him the second
they’d see that picture. So Merlin sighed inaudibly and walked down the
opposite direction in which Harry had left in. He hadn't taken care of a child
before and prayed to all imaginative deities out there that the day would go by
as quickly as possible and without any complications. If that hope would stay
true was another thing entirely.
The child in Merlin’s arms sniffled and tried to look back to see whether Harry
would be really gone or if he would turn up on the next corner again, no matter
that they were already way past his quarters. And little Eggsy finally realized
this when the door to Merlin’s office was pushed open and closed behind them.
There were screens all around, lighting up the room with a dim blue glow, but
in one corner there were some plushies and a large blanket on the ground with a
lot of toys scattered around. Still, Eggsy wasn't happy, silent tears starting
to drip down his cheeks once he was set down onto the soft blanket. Merlin
regarded him for a short amount of time, unsure how to handle the situation,
but ultimately decided to at least try to get at least some work done today.
Dealing with murdering psychos, bratty recruits and cheeky agents was his daily
routine, the thing he was good in, but a child, at this age especially, was a
closed book to him. Merlin had of course done his research beforehand, but it
had only been mildly insightful.
He only glanced back at Eggsy a few times, seeing how the boy sniffled but
looked around the toys anyway. So Harry had been able to spark that little bit
of confidence in the boy, else he probably wouldn’t start doing thing on his
own. Like this Merlin would be able to not have an eye on Eggsy the entire time
and he was thankful for it. Who would have known that Harry would become a
decent caretaker in the end? Turning around, Merlin started typing away on his
keyboard, leaving the boy to himself. Merlin heard a few sobs here and there,
but overall the boy was surprisingly quiet. At least until about an hour later,
when the sobbing started to grow increasingly loud and thus distracting. At
first Merlin had tried to simply ignore it, positive that the child would stop
once he figured that he wouldn’t get the wanted attention, but it wasn’t the
case. Before long, Merlin grabbed a tissue from one of the drawers of his desk
and moved to sit down next to Eggsy on the floor, where he offered it to the
boy.
"Are you worried about him, Eggsy?" Merlin asked in a, even for him,
surprisingly soft voice, bringing his hand to the other's back and lightly
stroking over it. The child needed comfort and a touch was the easiest way to
do that. The reactions were often times reminding him on a small puppy, still
unable to fend for itself. And puppies Merlin could handle.
"He wun com back..." Eggsy sniveled and hid behind the tissue. Merlin stared
with an incredulous expression as he tried to comprehend what Eggsy had just
blurted out. Harry wouldn't come back? Well, it made sense from the child’s
perspective. And it made even more sense for him knowing how dangerous Harry’s
business was. Just like every adult before Harry, Eggsy feared him leaving.
Like his father. And ultimately his mother. Big tears were dripping down
Eggsy’s face and made Merlin swallow the first instinctive answer that lay on
his tongue, his hands hovering in the air as if he wasn’t sure what to do with
them. "'arry wun come back..."
"Oh, no, no, no, Eggsy, he will!” Merlin instantly gave back at the repetition,
not wanting this to escalate. If he wouldn’t stop this now, Eggsy would gnaw
his ears off with that wailing. “It's his job to go out for a day or two. He
has to. He earns money that way so he can buy you a new toy. And even if he
goes out, he always comes back. And I think-” This sounded too cheesy in his
mind and it would sound even more ridiculous when it would come out of his
mouth. “He loves you very much, lad, else he would have never brought you here.
So he has to come back to care for you." Merlin murmured even though he himself
looked wary. Mostly because he searched for the perfect approach to calm this
child and go back to work. An idea made the handler look up and stand a second
later. Maybe he really could call Harry, for a minute or two. It had been a
bluff, but maybe it would be enough for Eggsy to believe them.
"Wait a moment~" Heaving himself up and hurrying over to his desk, Merlin
searched for something specific and eventually found one of the spare
earpieces. Linking it to Harry's line of communication was no issue and with a
few clicks Merlin was in. He checked Harry’s location before he was down with
Eggsy again. "Here, I can make you hear him. You can also talk to him, but just
for a few minutes. Harry is very busy and needs to focus." Merlin explained and
put the earpiece in Eggsy’s small ear.
Eggsy didn't really understand any of that since he had absolutely no idea how
any of this worked, so he was looking lost when Merlin leaned back to muster
him. He turned towards Merlin still, big blue eyes looking up at him.
"My mommy loves me too? Do she com back?" Where had this come from right now?
Merlin did his best to not let the question affect him, but how could he
possibly answer that question? Probably. Maybe. But would a mother neglect her
child like this if she would truly love it? Merlin swallowed and steeled his
face to not have himself telling the truth there. He would just lie, since
Michelle Unwin was definitely having other problems right now than her son.
Sadly enough. They had never aimed for something like this, but she also hadn’t
taken them up on their offer for help.
"I am sure that she loves you, Eggsy. But right now she isn't able to take care
of you. She has to first take care of herself. She knows where you are and
certainly will visit you some day.” Merlin uttered after having considered his
options, irritation visible in his face nonetheless.
Eggsy looked down and up again, apparently wanting to believe the man and
nodding after a moment. He was still holding on to that tattered teddy of his,
which looked more like a rag than anything else despite being cleaned regularly
now, showing how insecure he still was. Merlin didn’t want to touch that thing
at all.
"O-okay... I wanna see mommy fast." Eggsy whispered before one tiny hand found
the ear piece. "What isit?"
"It's a small telephone." Merlin explained, having to smile now that the boy
had changed the uncomfortable topic. Tapping his own ear, Merlin activated his
own. "Harry?"
It took a moment until Harry’s voice sounded through the line and he seemed
just the slightest bit surprised.
"Yes? Merlin, don’t tell me something’s wrong." The dip in tone told Merlin
clearly that he shouldn’t joke around today. The boy really had wrapped Harry
around his pinky finger.
"Do you have time right now? I fear that Eggsy needs a tad of reassurance."
There was a hum coming through the com and a minute of silence.
“Give me a second.” Harry would really interrupt the mission for Eggsy’s sake.
Someone must have exchanged Galahad over night, this was irrational behaviour.
“Alright. I am back at the hotel room.”
"Good." Merlin sighed in relief and tapped the device in Eggsy’s ear to make
him be able to hear Harry as well. Big blue eyes looked up at Merlin in sheer
incomprehension. "Say hello, Eggsy." Merlin prompted, at which the child
instantly beamed and sat up.
"'ello!" The child echoed, way too loud, not knowing that he didn't need to
yell for Harry and Merlin to hear him. The latter was pulling a face at the
volume. "'Arry where are 'ou?" Eggsy murmured then and actually looked around
as if he was searching for Harry.
"Eggsy." Harry purred back, sounding close to chuckling, the opposite of the
tone he had just used on Merlin. "I am currently inside a hotel in London,
wanting to meet up with someone for my job. What are you doing? Are you with
Merlin?" Of course they both knew that he was, but the boy seemed happy to talk
about anything right now as long as it was Harry asking questions.
Eggsy’s eyes went big when he heard Harry’s voice, and he smiled brightly as he
reached to his ear to hold it like a real telephone. It brought a smile to
Merlin’s face. It was adorable. At least for a snotty child.
"Harry! Yah!" Eggsy giggled as he looked at Merlin. Never had Merlin seen
someone be that happy to just speak to another person. Even in their line of
business. "What do yeh do?"
"I will have to ask someone a few questions, Eggsy. I will be back tomorrow in
the morning if everything goes well." Merlin really had to keep himself from
snorting there since that had been a very innocent way of telling the boy what
he was about to do there.
"I'm missin' you." Eggsy whispered after a moment, even though it had been
barely more than a few hours since Harry had left. "I dun like yeh leavin’. Why
'ou have t'do that?" He asked and pouted adorably as he shifted on his spot.
"Plea com back."
"Because I am adult and adults have to work." Harry chuckled in answer to that
naive question. "It's not for long, Eggsy, and I will be back when you wake up
in the morning. Don't forget to brush your teeth before you head to bed and I
am certain that Merlin can read you and Teddy something if you ask him nicely."
Merlin stared ahead in silence when he heard and understood what Harry had just
decided. He had not planned for this and would highly encourage the boy to not
take up on this offer. That Eggsy was more content now was good, but he wasn’t
about to play his nanny, and tugging him in was weird enough without reading
some story out loud.
Eggsy was opening his mouth, probably to complain, but fell silent again, much
to Merlin’s surprise.
"Okay." The child murmured and looked down, nodding. "Teddy miss ‘ou too." Said
teddy was pressed onto his ear there, as if Harry would be able to hear him
confirm this.
"I miss you, too, Eggsy. And you too, Merlin.” The roll of eyes could be heard
over the com. “And I am looking forward to coming back tomorrow, my darling."
Harry breathed lovingly. It was so uncharacteristic for Harry to be this
loving. Ever since Lee had died, Harry had been withdrawn even more than usual,
but apparently the boy reminded him of his softer side. It fit him and maybe
Eggsy would really manage to make Harry happy again. It had been more than a
decade since he had seen Harry engage in any kind of relationship. Both of them
deserved that happiness. Merlin turned his gaze towards the troubled looking
boy then, his little eyebrows drawn together in a frown.
"Okay." He just murmured. "U'til t'morrow."
"Good boy, Eggsy. Sleep well later on." Harry murmured softly. "Bye" Once Eggsy
had said his goodbye, a light clicking noise signalized that Harry had hung up
and Merlin carefully took the device out of Eggsy’s ear.
"There. He's fine and he will be back very soon. It's just one night." Merlin
promised even though that in itself would probably not reassure the boy. But if
Eggsy trusted Harry, then he would hopefully not start crying again. While
Eggsy wasn’t looking happy, one could hope.
"Yah." Eggsy repeated and looked away, tiny hands fiddling with the teddy. He
had not been alone with anyone but Harry up to this day, and it was apparent
that he was more uncomfortable than just shy, not one word coming from him
after that. Merlin rubbed the back of his neck and stood then, unsure if there
was anything else he could do for him.
"Okay, Eggsy. You can play all you want with… all this." Merlin nodded towards
the toys that were scattered around the playing blanket . "And if you are
hungry or thirsty, or need to go to the loo, you just tell me, okay? Please."
This was of utter importance. After hearing that Eggsy had literally pissed
himself Merlin wasn’t too keen on experiencing this himself.
There was only a small nod, and Eggsy looked away until Merlin had gone back to
his desk. Only then he turned to look at the toys, searching for one he could
play with. Merlin prayed again that this quiet would last.
It was an hour or two later that Merlin heard more and more mumbling behind
him, and he turned around in his chair, briefly interrupting his work, to see
what this was about. Eggsy was babbling to himself, trying to get out of the
door first, then wanting to get the contents of some drawers out onto the
floor. Both not exactly to Merlin’s liking. The boy had grown bored and was
fucking up his office.
“Eggsy, stop it.” Merlin said, trying to not sound too annoyed.
“Merlin?” A voice came through the com and the handler pinched his eyes close
and grimaced at the slip. He was busy with getting Bors through some facility
in Norway and had absolutely no time or nerves for that behaviour right now.
“I am here. Turn left at the next split and get into the third door on the
right. You should find all the documents you search for in one of the drawers.
The mark left them there earlier.”
“Roger that.”
What followed was Merlin muting the com and turning around to face the boy.
“Eggsy, stop that.”
“Nou, bored!” Eggsy gave back, a pout on his lips as he stomped the ground with
his foot. What a brat he could be.
“Then go and play!” With Eggsy’s growing louder, Merlin’s voice was raised as
well, and before he knew it, Eggsy was screaming for Harry again, voice ringing
in a shrill tone. “If you don’t stop this madness now, Harry will not come back
to you!”
There was silence as Merlin tried to breath through, the words only registering
with him when he looked into the child’s horrified face. The reaction was
immediate. Screaming turned into sobbing, big tears rolling down the chubby
cheeks, teddy dropping to the floor. He was just standing there, rigid, not
moving anymore, just crying soundlessly. How stupid could he be? Why had he
said this? Merlin had effectively ruined his entire evening. He blamed it on
the lack of experience, but no reason or excuse would help him now. He had
fucked it up.
Usually Merlin was someone who did not get very invested in other people. He
watched them and their lives but rather stayed to himself, rightfully so. The
absurdist drama people had to go through in relationships, no matter if
romantically or not, was tiresome and sure enough, he didn’t want to endure it
more than necessary. That might have been the reason for him to join Kingsman
in the first place. As a handler he had not many people to interact with, and
he was thankful for it. His expertise was communication and networking, and the
hacking of it, getting someone in and out, not dealing with emotional people.
He wasn’t the one who comforted the agents, even though they sometimes had
tried talking to him before. Listening was easy, yet he wasn’t there to ease
their troubled minds. Never. Unfortunately, knowing and befriending Harry Hart
had gotten him into a situation now that required that certain set of skills.
Skills he obviously lacked and had never wanted to develop either. Yet now he
faced a crying child, a nuisance which he had played a part in contributing to.
He had to solve this if he even wanted to think about going back to work or
staying on Harry’s good side. The agent would not do shite if he knew that his
boy had been shouted at. So determination was there, there was only one problem
with that. Merlin did not know how to comfort a child. The only thing he could
do was imitating Percival’s behaviour towards his daughter.
“Shh…” He hummed and went down on his knees before the boy, hands finding
Eggsy’s shoulders to keep him from turning away or even lash out. “I did not
mean that, Eggsy. Of course he will come back. I-”
“Yeh’s mean!” Eggsy wailed, little hands pulling on Merlin’s far bigger ones to
get them off his body. “I wanna go!” It frustrated Merlin immensely, but he
probably deserved to be yelled at. It was exceptional that he felt sympathy for
that snotty brat, yet here he was, trying to soothe the crying and thrashing
soon to be adopted child of what was considered his best friend.
“Eggsy…” Merlin breathed, voice going soft now as one hand turned the boy’s
chin so that he could look him in the eyes. Maybe he could reason with him at
least to a point. Eggsy was not old enough to comprehend elaborate reasoning,
but he was quite the bright lad. “I am sorry. I did not mean to yell at you. I
was angry because of my work, not because of you. You are very important to
Harry, and he will be back tomorrow morning, when you wake up. If you play a
bit more before we go and eat supper, then the time will go by quickly and you
will not miss Harry that much. Crying will only make it worse.”
Blue eyes had focused back on brown, but Eggsy was still looking as if he was
about to start crying again. He stood there on shaky legs, his little body
shuddering with every hiccuped sob that bubbled out of him. Seeing no other way
to solace the child, Merlin pulled him into his arms and stroked over his back.
Eggsy remained there, not feeling the awkward vibes that came from the man,
even raising his tiny hands to curl in on the bigger frame. It was strange for
Merlin to see how easy it could be, that only a small hug could be enough to
help him through his… state.
“There there…” Merlin uttered before he loosened the embrace and brushed some
strands of hair out of Eggsy’s face. “He will be back tomorrow. I promise.” No
one should promise when missions were involved, not in their line of work, but
if his promise would be broken, they had far other problems than an untrusting
child.
“Y-yeh play wif me?” Eggsy sniveled as he rubbed his sleeves over his eyes to
dry the tears.
Oh well. He had not planned on playing with Eggsy at all. He had no idea how a
child was playing but maybe ten minutes would suffice to keep him quiet for
longer.
“What do you want to play?” Merlin reluctantly asked and sat down more
comfortably. He had not believed that Eggsy would really be that happy to have
him around, but apparently that was incorrect. The boy’s eyes lit up and he
nodded minutely before he gestured to some dinosaurs.
“Play dinosaurs! Grrr!” Eggsy made and grabbed a dinosaur to stomp it onto the
fluffy rug. Merlin tried his best not to smile, but the corner of his mouth
quirked up anyway. “Yeh can has the bird dino!” A pterodactyl. “It makes
‘caww’!”
“Caw?” Merlin parroted and raised a brow. “Like a crow?”
“Yesh!”
Merlin watched for another moment while Eggsy stomped the rug with his dinosaur
before he figured that it was useless to be embarrassed by this and cawed.
 
Much to Merlin’s astonishment it was already getting dark when he got up from
the ground again to look at his screens. He had completely forgotten the time.
How ironic. A look back over his shoulder showed the boy snuggling up against
his teddy, napping. He felt himself smile at the sight and the silence that was
surrounding him. Deciding to make the boy something to eat for later, Merlin
silently left to get him a sandwich from the cafeteria. It didn’t take long
until Eggsy had devoured the food and went back to play with his dinosaurs.
Eventually though Merlin noticed that the dinosaur noises ebbed up.
"Eggsy?" Merlin asked whisperingly when he heard the boy yawning a few times.
"How about we head off to bed?"
"Nut tir'd..." Was the obvious answer, yet Eggsy’s eyes were closed and he very
much lay on the soft blanket, teddy hiding half his face.
"I would like to question that." Merlin chuckled softly, bowing down to take
the boy and his teddy into his arms, before he left his office and locked it
behind him. He would stay with Eggsy until he had fallen asleep, else the boy
would hardly feel comfortable enough to fall asleep. So Merlin brought him
straight to Harry's bedroom and placed him on the bed before walking to one of
the wardrobes to search for a pyjama. "Would you like help with redressing,
Eggsy?" Merlin asked absentmindedly when he chose one and returned to the the
boy, showing him what he had chosen.
A snicker came from Merlin when he saw the boy reaching for the pants and
trying to get them on without pulling the old ones down first. He had to admit
to himself that Eggsy was adorable when he wanted to be, or when he was tired.
The boy grew on him without him wanting it to happen. Just the tiniest little
bit, and he would deny that under torture. Eggsy eventually nodded at Merlin,
one hand on the pants, the other rubbing his eyes. Merlin's expression grew
soft and he leaned in to help the boy with getting redressed. And once that was
done, he offered his hand to him.
"Let's go to the bathroom, Eggsy. You have to brush your teeth. Harry told us
to do that." The boy was almost five, and Merlin hoped that he could brush them
alone, same with the toilet issue. They had successfully used it before, but
since Eggsy was tired, nothing was guaranteed.
"Nu, dun wanna." Eggsy proclaimed, yet still scooted over to the edge of the
bed and tried to hop down, only to lightly stumble. "Need t' pee."
"Same direction." Holding Eggsy by his hand, Merlin kept him from stumbling
over his own two feet, before heaving him up into his arms again and carrying
him over to the bathroom. It would be quicker if he would help him with all
that. A yawn forced its way out of Merlin’s throat as well then and only now he
realized how exhausting the day has been. In all his years of working for
Kingsman he had only been that tired a few times. The boy was a force to be
reckoned with. How such a small thing could make such a fuss was something
Merlin couldn’t quite explain either. "Would you like me to read you something
then when you go to sleep?" He asked while keeping one hand on the boy's
shoulder so he wouldn't end up falling over. Merlin only suggested this because
the boy would fall asleep quicker and he would get into Harry’s good graces. A
favour owed could be very useful when Harry was concerned.
"Yesh pleash." Eggsy accent got thicker while he walked over to the toilet,
where he pulled his pants a bit down and climbed onto the seat to relieve
himself. "You leave then?" The child asked and looked up at Merlin when he
reached for the handle to flush. It was a good question. He had spent too much
time with him already, and thus away from work, but leaving Eggsy alone in a
still somewhat foreign environment, and after his fuck up, felt utterly wrong.
So Merlin regarded the boy for a moment when he pulled his pants back up and
hopped down the toilet, thinking about it.
"I could certainly stay if you would like that, while I have to get to my room
to get redressed as well before that, one doesn’t lay down in their bed with
street clothes.” A lesson to remember. Harry would approve of him teaching the
child some manners. “But if you want me to stay, I will." At least until Eggsy
would fall asleep. Merlin went over to the sink then and put the footstool in
front of it to help Eggsy being able to reach it. Taking out the small
toothbrush and the paste, he handed it to the boy, who looked less than
thrilled. “Oh come on, it surely can’t be that bad to brush your teeth.” Merlin
chided, but Eggsy simply shook his head.
"I dun wanna be alone." Merlin looked back into sad eyes and couldn’t find the
will to argue. Of course Eggsy didn’t want to be alone. He still didn’t trust
the people around him to stay, to not leave him. It was sad, but he would
regrow that trust eventually. And if Eggsy needed consolation and if Merlin was
the only one the boy had right now, he would offer it to him. Eggsy still stood
on the same spot, toothbrush in hand, looking absolutely miserable until Merlin
took pity on him.
"Then I will stay of course. Good boy, Eggsy." Merlin hummed when Eggsy offered
a small tug of lips and climbed the footstool, one hand giving the boy's
shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I will be right back. Make sure to brush for two
minutes. Harry will be proud of you." It was manipulating, but if it would
serve its purpose, and Eggsy certainly beamed at hearing praise. It was better
than force by far. Nothing was achieved with force around children, even Merlin
knew that.
Eggsy nodded and began to brush his teeth while Merlin hurried to change and
get back to Harry’s room as quickly as he could, much to the amusement of some
Kingsman staff. He was just through the door when he saw Eggsy wobbling back
into the bedroom, looking at Merlin sheepishly before he crawled onto the bed.
"Ready."
"What does Harry read to you usually? Any story you would prefer?" Merlin asked
as he let his hands run over the variety of books in the shelves. There were
some children’s books in between the classics Harry kept, but they were few and
far in between and Merlin was certain that they had gone through them already
when he considered their limited number. When no answer came, Merlin raised a
brow and looked back at Eggsy, who shook his head and vanished underneath the
thick blanket, only to peek out with one eye.
"Mh-mh." The small pile of boy shook. "Dunno." That wouldn’t make the choice
easier. He would simply choose one he liked himself.
"Well, let’s see..." Skipping through the titles, Merlin had to chuckle at some
of the books Harry had. He wanted the boy to fall asleep, not to have
nightmares. Humming when he saw Lord of the Rings, Merlin pulled the book out
and went over to the bed again where he made himself comfortable next to Eggsy.
"Alright then.”
He had never read to a child, but he did his best to let the characters sound
different to make it as interesting for Eggsy as possible, no matter how dry
the first chapter was. The descriptions of the environment quickly made Eggsy’s
eyes go heavy with sleep and it took literally only a few minutes until he laid
face down on the pillow, teddy inside his arms, snoring lightly. Merlin looked
down at the sleeping child for a minute or two before laying the book onto the
night table, his glasses following. Leaning back against his own pillow, Merlin
closed his eyes and let his mind wander. Sleeping in Harry’s bed, and sleeping
that early at all would be difficult, but somehow the breathing next to him was
relaxing. Having someone next to him felt nice, and Merlin realized with
surprise that he was smiling. Maybe, no matter how exhausting the day had been,
he would be able to get along with this small child and before he knew it,
Merlin was drifting off into a deep slumber.
Chapter End Notes
     Thank you so much for reading!
     (And I do like Lord of the rings haha!)
End Notes
     I really hope you like the first chapter! I'm doing my best to get
     the next one to you within the next month!
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