Chapter 1

Petra Durant, Codename: Guinevere. Arthur may have been the face of the Kingsman, but it was she who operated behind the curtain, so to speak. At the end of the day, all of the agents answered to her. And here they were, all assembled around the conference table, some of them hologrammed in from afar. Well, all except for Harry Hart, Codename Galahad.

"Guinevere, we may as well start without him," Arthur said from his place at the head of the table. Guinevere stood near the doorway, a clipboard neatly sitting in the crease of her arm. Before she could respond, Harry came traipsing up the steps. He straightened his tie and looked at Guinevere apologetically.

"Sorry, Pet," Harry whispered. Guinevere shot him a glance. Tightlipped, she nodded for Galahad to take his seat.

Arthur alerted the room to the death of agent Lancelot, aka James Croft. Guinevere's glasses rested on top of her head (to be honest, their special lenses gave her a headache), so she only saw Harry and Arthur's faces, the former's look of sorrow and the latter's of reverence. Guinevere took the glass of bourbon from Arthur and toasted with the rest them. Never easy to lose one of her men, especially one as skilled as the late Lancelot. She threw back the drink in one swallow, placed the glass on the table next to Harry, and began to leave. Before she did, hesitating, she placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. She turned her back so the others wouldn't hear.

"See me in my office when you're through here. We need to speak about your little incident today," she said, softly and firmly.

Harry nodded in silent acknowledgement. She left the room, passing Merlin on her way out, who have her a professional nod then went straight into presenting Arthur and Galahad his recent findings. Guinevere always liked that about Merlin- he was a very no-nonsense man, and extremely intelligent.

After their meeting was over, and Arthur had left the room, Merlin said to Galahad, "Guinevere didn't look too happy with you."

Harry stood up and straightened his jacket. "Yes, it would seem so."

"Perhaps she'll go easy on you," Merlin said, patting his shoulder and heading out of the room, leaving Harry by himself.

"God, I hope not," he muttered under his breath.

After catching up on some paperwork in her office, Guinevere heard a knock at her door.

"Come in," she said without looking up.

"You wanted to see me, Guinevere?" Harry asked, shutting the door behind him.

"Yes, please sit." She motioned towards the chair in front of her desk. She was still working with a file; Harry was silent, allowing her to finish. He watched her scrawl her signature, a capital G followed by a hash mark, and set the file aside.

"Do you mind if I remove my jacket?" Harry asked. "It's bloody warm in here."

"Please, make yourself comfortable. And if you don't mind, please remove your glasses as well. I want this conversation to remain private."

"As you wish." Harry stowed the glasses inside his jacket, which he hung on a nearby coat rack.

"So tell me Harry," Guinevere said, rising from her chair as he returned to his. She came around to the front of the desk and leaned against it. "How much is it going to cost the Kingsman every time you need to 'let off a little steam?'"

"Honestly, Pet-"

"Don't call me that, Harry. I know you think it's cute, but it's going to get us both in trouble. That little slip up in the conference room can not happen again. And neither can than stunt you pulled in the pub."

"You saw the feed then?"

"If course I did. Arthur came storming down here with it earlier today."

Harry smiled cunningly. He stood, becoming almost nose to nose with her. "I'm sorry, Petra. It won't happen again."

Guinevere looked into his eyes. "You're a horrible liar, Harry." She grabbed his tie and pulled him to her, kissing him hard. His arms wrapped around her, returning her kiss.

"Was Arthur really that mad?" Harry asked, moving his face to her neck.

"I don't give a fuck what Arthur thinks," Guinevere said. She untucked Harry's shirt and began to unbutton it.

"Have you no respect for our dearly departed agent Lancelot?" Harry asked.

Guinevere grinned. "Just letting off a little steam."

Some time later, still in her office, Harry was putting his jacket back on. "By the way," he said, "I have my candidate for Lancelot's replacement." He removed a folded sheet of paper from inside his jacket and handed it to Guinevere.

She brushed a lock of hair that looked only slightly disheveled. Harry thought she looked lovely, not so tightly wound as other female bosses seemed to be. Or as movies liked to portray them, anyway. Guinevere was tough and intimidating only when she needed to be. She was no pushover, but she got along well with all of her agents, best of all Harry.

A romantic relationship between Guinevere and Galahad had been blossoming for almost 10 years, even before Guinevere was promoted to head of the service. As agents, they were accustomed to secrecy and discretion. As far as they knew, no one knew of their love affair. Harry and Petra were, above all, professional.

"Gary Unwin?" Guinevere read aloud from the paper. "Not Lee Unwin's son?"

"Eggsy to his friends, yes."

Guinevere wrinkled her nose. "He may be qualified, Harry, but I don't think-"

"Please, Petra, give him a chance. Arthur has already raked me over the coals over it. He says it's another failed experiment. I know the boy has potential. You've always trusted me."

Guinevere took another look at the photo on the paper. "This is the boy from the pub, isn't it? Oh Harry, please don't tell me you didn't tell him anything."

"Petra, he's loyal. Trust me."

"You're still trying to redeem yourself for Lee's death."

"You're damned right I am. And I have faith that this boy can be even better than his father."

Guinevere stared at Harry, then sighed. She handed the paper back to him. "This isn't because you just made love to me in the middle of my office floor."

Harry smiled that boyish grin and kissed Guinevere on the tip of her nose. "Of course it is, darling."

As Harry left her office, Guinevere called out behind him. "Don't disappoint me, Galahad."

"I haven't yet."