Chapter Text
When Eggsy was younger, he used to have these intense dreams. They always felt real. He’d wake up crying and crying, not understanding why his hands felt like they were covered in blood even when they were clean. It worried his parents for the longest time, but they didn’t know what to do.
The week before his father died, he had seen it happen. Every night for seven days, he would watch as masked men stood together in a room, circled around another man tied to a chair. He would watch as his father would push the man down and use his own body to cover the grenade. He would watch as his father sacrificed himself to save the others.
He wasn’t sad when a stranger in a suit came to their house to tell them Lee Unwin died. He already knew.
But that was another lifetime ago. That was before Eggsy had grown up, before he had decided to join the very organisation his father had died for.
This was now.
Eggsy thought he would feel different after saving the world. You must understand him; he wasn’t expecting to feel mighty and powerful, no, no that wasn’t it. He’d seen what those kinds of thoughts did to people. It was never pretty.
No. Eggsy simply thought he would feel… different. That the knowledge of having saved nearly seven billion people would weigh on him for the rest of his life. That he’d never be able to go a second without thinking of those precious few seconds it took for Valentine’s hand to come off the scanner, those precious few lives he couldn’t save in the meantime. That one life he couldn’t have hoped to save.
Eggsy’s teeth clenched hard as the images he’d been holding at bay finally began flooding his memories. He could see nothing else but Harry. Nothing else in the world existed then.
The young man exhaled sharply, his breath misting in the cold night air. He could feel a sharp pain behind his ribs every time he breathed, though he knew it wasn’t caused by any sort of injury.
Not a physical one anyway.
Shaking his head in a desperate attempt to rid himself of those thoughts, he hurriedly finished what he came to do. He knew that, not too far from him – no never again, never far from him again – in a motel on the edge of town, Harry’s body lay prone on wrinkled sheets, the bullet wound in his head no longer bleeding.
Eggsy had almost thrown up at the sight of him. That man, the man who had saved him, who had given him another chance, had been lying still on a metal slab in the middle of the morgue, his normally handsome face mangled from the injury, his usually impeccable suit torn and bloodied. He was glad then that he’d turned off the video feed in his glasses. No one should ever see Harry that way.
Eggsy had had to fight to keep himself from breaking down in front of the coroner who looked upon him with a mixture of impatience and pity.
“Look,” the coroner started with a deep sigh. “I’m afraid we can’t keep him here for much longer. God knows what the hell happened in the last twenty-four hours, but we’ve got body after body coming in. Any John Doe needs to be moved out quickly.”
“I know ‘im,” Eggsy finally managed to choke out. “He’s no John Doe, I know ‘im.” It killed his throat to speak, but he had to. “I have to take ‘im back home; back to London.”
It wasn’t hard to sneak one body out of the morgue when the rest of the town was busy running around like chickens with their heads cut off; too busy repairing the damages from V-day, too busy trying to find missing loved ones, they were all too busy to notice one body go missing from the morgue.
Eggsy made sure to snap his glasses in half and throw them in the bin before stealing the body. The video feed might not be on, but he couldn’t risk Merlin seeing all of this by accident. If his plan was to succeed, no one could know…
Eggsy felt the air go colder around him as he wiped his dirty hands on his thighs. He didn’t care about the suit at that moment. Manners maketh man when man was not busy selling his soul.
“Ah,” a voice suddenly spoke up from behind him. “Gary Unwin. I must say, I wasn’t expecting to see you again quite so soon. Or at all, in this lifetime.”
Eggsy steeled himself and turned to face the newcomer. He was as calm as he could possibly be in that moment. He knew what he came to do. He had no qualms about doing it.
“Crowley,” he greeted with a small nod, his hands now in his pockets. “I didn’ think you still dealt with crossroad deals. Thought you were a bit busy runnin’ Hell and all tha’.”
“Oh yes, busy. Very busy indeed,” the King of Hell smiled a cruel smile. “Had to make a bit of an exception for you however, didn’t I? I have to be honest,” he advanced towards the younger man. “I was quite certain I’d never see you again.”
“You and I both,” Eggsy returned the mockery of a smile. He could feel his limbs growing colder by the second.
“Oh, you look cold,” Crowley mocked him. “Well, Kentucky at night isn’t quite the same temperature as dreams of the desert sun in the Middle East, am I right?”
Eggsy froze at the mention. “That was a lifetime ago.” It certainly felt like it.
“Of course it was,” Crowley smiled wider. “And it was so easy for you to find me after that, wasn’t it? I truly am sorry about your father, by the way. Dreadful thing to have to see a parent die in a vision, truly dreadful.”
Eggsy breathed heavily, the memories of that night adding to the already heavy weight on his mind. Back then, he was able to feel the desert sun on his skin as if he’d really been there, next to his dying father and the man who would come to save his life in return. Harry.
“I took the visions away from you,” Crowley continued to speak as he began to pace the crossroad grounds. “Just like I promised. No double-crossing, no demon tricks. Just my word to a fifteen year old boy who’d had enough of suffering.”
“Would I have seen Harry?” Eggsy finally asked him, staring him straight in the eyes. “With my visions, would I have seen Harry die?”
The King of Hell tilted his head in consideration. “Yes. Yes you would have.”
“And I would have been able to stop it?”
Crowley regarded him intently then. “What are you here for, Gary Unwin?” he asked curiously.
“You know what I’m here for.”
“Hm.” He hummed thoughtfully.
“I know how it goes,” Eggsy continued. He could feel the desperation clawing at his throat. He needed to get this done now. “My soul in ten years in exchange for what I want, right?”
“One year.” Crowley smirked.
“That’s bullshit!” Eggsy called him out. “It’s ten years, I know it is!”
“Yes, normally, it is. But see, when I took your visions away, I did so freely. There was no exchange, nothing. I did it out of the… goodness of my heart. It goes to say that I should get more this time around,” he laughed.
Eggsy said nothing for a moment. He knew it wouldn’t be easy but… one year. He’d only have one more year with Harry. His breath fogged in front of him as he came to his decision rather quickly.
“Well,” Crowley started again before Eggsy could open his mouth to speak. “That was one reason. The other reason is the same as the one for my presence here at the crossroads.” The King of Hell regarded him curiously. “Your soul is a very important one, Gary Unwin. You knew that already. I have… special plans for you indeed.”
“The sooner you get hold of it, the better, right?” Eggsy spat out in anger. He’d already made up his mind, but it didn’t change the fact that he was terrified of what was in store for him.
“Exactly,” he smiled. “Though I sense you already know your answer.”
Eggsy exhaled harshly one more time. “Harry’s soul – unharmed, undamaged and unchanged – in exchange for mine.”
“One year?”
“One year,” Eggsy agreed readily.
Crowley smiled his cruel smile. “Excellent.”
Eggsy closed his eyes as he felt cold lips press against his. Soon, he thought to himself desperately. Soon I'll have Harry back.