“The shops halfway across London, Eggsy, and yuir not bloody well carryin’ me!” It wasn’t really fair to snap at the boy, who looked on the verge of tears – it was the thing that had both endeared him to Merlin and simultaneously put a feeling of continuous worry. He was kindhearted. The sort that would wreck a car rather than run a lousy fox off the road. The sort that couldn’t stand to see others suffer, even at the cost of his own safety.
It made him a good man, but it wasn’t an ideal trait for a spy.
“Get ahold o’ yuirself, Galahad. I’m– nngh–” Merlin pushed himself up on his elbows and rolled over onto his back. His pant legs were limp below the knee, a sight that was still unsettling to him. He wondered if he would ever truly become accustomed it. “… Ow. I need ye tae keep yuir head, lad. There’s someone nearby that can help – I was on my way there anyway. Lend me yuir phone and scope the area, see if ye can find my legs and – no, find my glasses. They broke them, but I dinna think they took them. Won’t do for those tae get inta th’ wrong hands.”
While Eggsy searched, Merlin pulled up a chat window on the boy’s phone and fired off a quick text message to Gareth’s private number.
[incoming text from G. Unwin] Using colleague’s phone, mine is missing. Mishap on the way, line not secure. Will explain when I get there, have bandages ready. - H
There was something about Merlin's steady voice that was reassuring. He was hurt and hurting and yet he could keep it together. Then so could Eggsy.
With a nod, he handed over his phone and then went to scour the surrounding area for glasses and legs. He found the glasses first, only a few steps away, broken into tiny pieces of glass, plastic and electronics. Carefully, he scooped up most of the technological inner workings and dropped them in his coat pocket.
The legs were harder to find and Eggsy wasn't quite sure how functional they still were, but he eventually stumbled first on one and then the other further down the street. When he returned to Merlin, he immediately returned to his position on the ground by his mentor's side. "Found two of three things. They must've took ya pride. Pre'y sure I woulda found something tha' big.", he joked lamely. "Cab's wai'in' down the alley. Gonna ge' it an' ge' ya to tha' friend of ya's, yeah?"
The answering text message took only about as long as it would have taken Gareth to type it out and arrived long before Eggsy returned:
Understood. First aid will be ready. House is secure. Code won't work. I'm waiting. -G
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