Neil threw the ball up and caught it again with one hand. The rough plastic of the tennis ball rubbed against his fingers as he rolled it around in his palm and then threw it up again. It bounced off the stone ceiling and hit the floor, bouncing a few times before rolling away. Neil sighed and looked at it despondently. He had managed to get one of the guards to give him the ball to keep him occupied but the boredom was strong and it was infuriating. Trying to keep up the act of the rich boy with daddy issues that he tended to put on when being Richard Draven's son was exhausting. He could only pace round the room and scourer his cell for escape a few times before it looked too skilled to fit with what his father and the public knew about him. Still, there was a semblance of a plan coming together in his mind. He just had to wait. 

Heaving himself off his bed, he crossed over to the ball and was just picking it up when a knock echoed off the metal. The hatch slid open and the tennis ball bounced off the metal next to it. "Fuck", Neil grunted as he straightened and crossed his arms. "I missed". 

Valantine gave him a disappointed and betrayed look that was more dramatic than real. "Why Mr Draven. That was rude". 

"My father never exactly praised my manners", Neil retorted. "What do you want? Come to see if I have changed my mind? Sorry to disappoint but I'm not a psychopath like my father. Though some of my exes may say that I'm a sociopath". 

Valentine rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry to say that I'm disappointed. I thought a week would have been long enough for you to come round but you're tougher than I thought". 

"Thank my father", Neil grinned as he walked closer to lean against the metal door. It was a charming smile without humour. "But I have waged grudges that lasted years. I can do longer than a week". 

Valentine sighed in disappointment again. "Well I am very disappointed. I thought you would care more about the world than this". 

"I care more about human life", Neil gritted out. "You're a villain". He bent down to scoop the tennis ball back up and when he rose, it was with a glare. 

"Well I hope you're happy being stuck in here", Valentine ground out, visibly annoyed now. "Because you will be here for a long time". The hatch slammed shut with a clang. Neil tossed the tennis ball between his hands, gaze still on the metal slot. 

"Maybe. Maybe not". The words were a mummer as the ball bounced off the metal with a thud. Neil caught it and turned to walk into the bathroom where a bubbling concoction was mixing in the sink.  He glanced at it and grinned. Not long now. The ball bounced off the floor. 

---------------

"Shoot the dog".

Eggsy blinked. The order heavy in the air and the gun cold in his hand. Arthur's voice was an echo in his head. The white haired old man gazing at him with a smug arrogance that Eggsy had always detested. It was a look he had gotten a lot in his life from those who thought themselves above him. Arrogance, distain, knowledge that he wouldn't amount to anything more than what he was. A pleb, a chav, a man with nothing to amount to in his life than drinking it away with some shit dead end job. Arthur watched him as he turned the gun over in his hands and held it up. The barrel pointed at JB. The small pug blinking innocently and unknowingly at his owner. 

Eggsy held the gun steady. This was the final test. If he passed it then he would succeed against everything he had been fighting against. He would prove to himself, Harry and Tristan- Neil that he had what it took. Neil. The thought of the blonde arose in his mind. There had been no news about his disappearance other than the ties back to the valentine corporation. Neil had promised him a reward if he passed. The thought of that conversation made his chest hurt. 

He didn't want to shoot his dog. How could he shoot someone who didn't deserve it? If this was what being a kingsman agent was, to mercilessly shoot those who trust and obey his command, then he didn't want it. Had Neil had to do this too? Had he been given a dog and made kill it? Suddenly Eggsy tasted what he thought Neil had been referring to before. That the world of the rich was cutthroat and ruthless. 

Eggsy shook his head and Arthur's then was gleeful. "Give me the gun". The gun was steady as he lifted it and pointed it right at the older man. Arthur didn't flinch. For a second the two men stared at each other, gazes locked in mutual dislike and hatred. Eggsy hated this man. Hated him with a passion that soured his stomach. He almost hated this smug toff almost as much as his stepfather. 

The echoing sound of a gunshot startled him and he glanced at the room next door. Arthur smiled. "At lest the girl's got balls". Eggsy let the gun roll in his hand, handle offered to the older man. Arthur took it and Eggsy stood up. "Go home". The words were an order. They seemed to cut him. Eggsy scooped up JB in his hands and pulled the door open. He didn't look back as he strode from the room. 

As the sunlight hit his face, Eggsy took a shaky breath. What did he do now? He had failed Harry, Neil. The blonde was still out there and for all the anger and frustration he had towards him had churned up so much that he couldn't recognise them anymore. It was easy to look back on their conversations and see what had boiled in his chest each time they exchanged words. Desire, anger, lust, excitement, frustration. Neil angered him and attracted him in equal measure. The blonde knew it and that only infuriated him further. 

Yet that cocktail of emotions faded into worry as he thought about how Neil was now captive somewhere. Now he couldn't do anything. But there was a taxi waiting at the doorstep to the Manor and Eggsy was too angry to think straight as he tossed JB into the backseat and climbed into the driver's seat. 

unedited