Training to become a Kingsman was no easy journey, but Eggsy and Roxy were almost finished. One last task remained, and it was taking place that evening. Neither of the recruits knew what to expect, other than the fact that it was "The toughest one you'll have to face, likely tougher than anything the real world will toss at you", as Merlin had warned them the previous night.

Eggsy was feeling pretty confident, considering his successes during the water, parachute and train tracks tasks. That day, he relaxed in his dorm room and fell in and out of sleep, while Roxy pored over her notes, manuals and textbooks that were spread across her bed.

Eggsy peeked open one eye from his restful position and laughed at Roxy's state of panic. "Whatchu all worried for? We made it this far, s'nothin to stress out about."

She cocked an eyebrow in response and said, "We'll see if you still feel that way after I've passed the test with flying colours and you're about to fail because of some rudimentary skill you've forgotten to review."

He scoffed and shook his head. "You're overthinkin it, mate. Just let it happen as it may, and we're either in or we ain't. Simple as that." In fact, Eggsy desperately wanted to succeed in the task and become a Kingsman agent, but he tried to not let it show. Perhaps treating it like any useless secondary school test would make it seem less…scary.

She rolled her eyes and went back to her books. "Your confidence will bite you in the arse one day, you know." At that moment, before Eggsy had time to retort, Merlin walked into the room. Both recruits jumped up and stood at attention.

"At ease. Well, it's nice to know one of you is taking this final task seriously…" He surveyed Roxy's bed full of reading material and gave Eggsy a disapproving look.

Eggsy looked sheepishly back at him.

"However, regardless of whether you studied," he looked at Roxy, "or not," then at Eggsy, "this simulation is not something you could have fully prepared for. It is unlike anything you two have faced in training before and will test your resilience, control and strength in the face of stress. It could easily be the death of your potential Kingsman career. Understand?"

"Yes, sir." they replied together.

"Well then, I won't make you wait any longer – your mentors are waiting in the two rooms at the end of the hall to debrief you and then you will be sent into the simulation. Roxy, to the door on the left, Eggsy, the right. Best of luck to the both of you. I truly hope you succeed." Merlin nodded at the both of them with a hint of a smile. "Dismissed."

Eggsy walked down the hall, rather uneasily, but was intrigued to find out what this task would entail. When Roxy turned to enter the other room, he winked at her and said, "See you on the other side, then."

She laughed nervously. "We'll see. …Good luck, Eggsy."

"You too."

Eggsy entered the room and saw Harry looking out the window. He turned around at the sound of the door. "Ever heard of knocking?"

"Only when I'm casing a place to rob." The two men grinned, remembering the same conversation they had had earlier on in training, and then Harry walked towards the recruit. "Nice suit."

"Thanks, some fancy tailor-man picked it out for me from this boring old tailor shop."

Harry chuckled once. "Well, I must say the man has excellent taste. Now, let's get down to business. Before I send you into that room, I want to say that you've done very well here, Eggsy. You've proven yourself to be quite the gentleman and a true Kingsman, regardless of the results of this simulation. I must admit, when I first met you I thought it would be next to impossible, but you've completely transformed. And know that I'm…proud of you."

Eggsy wasn't really one to share emotions, so he decided to make a joke of it and smirked. "Aw, sweet little moment we're having here, innit?"

Harry looked him in straight in the eye, ignoring the joking comment and added, "Your dad would've been proud, too. You remind me more and more of him every day, and I wish he was here to see this. To see how far you've come." At this, Eggsy dropped his smirk and swallowed.

Harry maintained his gaze with the younger man, studying him. Eggsy cleared his throat in the uncomfortable silence and, looking down, said, "…Thanks Harry. Means a lot."

The older man finally dropped his gaze as well and continued, pacing in front of Eggsy. "Secondly, I want you to have an idea of what you're going to face in there, so you don't let your self-assurance get the best of you. It's not like the other tasks. It's…more emotional. It will push buttons you didn't even know you possessed and try to break you. I can't say much else than that, but please, please, use your best judgement and don't let your emotions get in the way of completing the task. Will you do that for me?"

Eggsy nodded. "I think I can handle whatever it is, after having a go at that train tracks simulation, yeah?"

"This one is considerably more difficult than that, believe me, but it is an essential component of Kingsman training. We all had to go through it and we were all equally traumatized." On that ominous note, Harry checked his watch and said, "That's all the time we have. I'll be waiting right here when you come out, alright?"

"You're talking like I'm gonna need counselling afterwards or somethin…" Eggsy laughed, trying to lighten the mood, but was concerned when Harry did not do the same. If anything, the agent looked more serious.

"You can do this, Eggsy. I know you can. Now go prove it to yourself." Harry ushered the younger man out of the room and closed the door without say anything else.

Eggsy stared at the door for a moment and suddenly regretted the nap he had taken earlier when he could have been studying.

He was snapped out of his thoughts, however, when the intimidating steel doors leading to the simulation room clanged opened and he was forced to walk into the utter darkness beyond them.

A/N - Thanks for reading my first Kingsmas fic and I appreciate any constructive feedback or thoughts! Also, sorry to leave it on a cliffhanger but I'm cruel that way hehe. I'll try to post the next chapter in the next few days :)