Apologies for the delay in this last chapter. I have been moving house, and have thoroughly underestimated the amount of time and work that takes…
So, this is the last chapter to this story. I hope you'll all like it. All reviews, favs and follows are still highly appreciated :-)

Four hours after the plane had touched down on American soil, Harry finally made it to the medical wing of Statesman HQ. He had been overseeing the distribution of Poppy's antidote with some of the other Statesman personnel up until now. He was now satisfied that everything was progressing smoothly, and found he could responsibly retreat from his task and turn his attention back to Eggsy.

Harry paced briskly through the hallways that lead to the medical wing. He passed through the last set of doors and arrived in a kind of waiting area. There was only one other person there: Merlin.
Merlin stood in the middle of the room, staring blankly at one of the walls and holding a forgotten cup of tea that had long gone cold.
"Merlin?" Harry approached him, "any news?" Merlin broke his stare to focus his gaze on Harry.
"Not yet" he answered, "he's still in surgery, but according to Ginger they should be done soon now". Harry sighed heavily and sat down on a nearby table, passing a hand over his face.
"I should have seen it coming" he grumbled, renewed feelings of guilt rising up.
"Don't beat yourself up, Harry" Merlin immediately retorted, "you were the only one who saw this coming. You fucking killed the man for it! Twice, even!"
"That's not what I meant" Harry said, "I should have expected that Whiskey would show up in Cambodia". Merlin remained quiet for a little while.
"It's not your fault, Harry" he finally emphasized again.
"Well, it feels like it is" Harry mumbled.

Before Merlin could say anything else, a doctor walked into the waiting area, followed closely by Ginger. Merlin and Harry immediately turned their full attention to them.
"The operation went well" the doctor began, "we managed to stop all the bleeding. One of the bullets slightly damaged the spleen, which caused a significant amount of blood loss. Another bullet cracked a rib, but didn't do any damage to the lungs".
"He'll be likely to make a full recovery" Ginger added with a careful smile. Harry blew out a deep breath in relief
"Can we go to him?" Merlin asked.
"He's still recuperating from the operation, and I expect he will be unconscious for a little while longer. The trauma he sustained is still significant, and the body will need time to recover from it" the doctor explained, "but it would do no harm for you to sit with him".
"I'll take you to him" Ginger said, and led the way out of the waiting room.

Harry and Merlin followed Ginger to a small hospital room. It held a single hospital bed, in which Eggsy lay. A screen next to the bed constantly monitored and showed his vitals.
"You can stay here as long as you wish and whenever you feel like it" Ginger said softly, "my office is through the doors at the end of the hallway, so if you need anything..." Ginger's voice trailed off and she averted her gaze to her own feet.
"Thank you" Harry said earnestly, "for everything you've done". Ginger looked up at Harry and it only now became clear that tears were glistening in her eyes.
"I'm sorry" she sobbed quietly, "I should've known something was off with Whiskey. I should not have revived him after that headshot".
"He did a good job at hiding his true motives" Harry said solemnly, withholding himself of any further comment. Ginger dried her eyes on the sleeve of her blouse, before she turned around and left the room.
Merlin shortly contemplated going after her, but ultimately decided against that. He instead focused his attention on the monitor by Eggsy's bed. Harry planted himself in one of the comfortable chairs in the room.
"Satisfied?" He asked Merlin, who was still scrutinizing the screen.
"Given the circumstances, I am very satisfied" Merlin answered, "he will have a lot of healing to do and a great amount of strength to gain, but for now he's doing alright". Merlin tore his eyes off the screen and sat down in one of the other chairs.
Harry had slouched down in his chair, with his elbow planted on one of the armrests and his hand supporting his head.
"Lighten up, Harry" Merlin said, knowing perfectly well that Harry was still beating himself up for this entire situation, "you will soon get the chance to scold Agent Champagne for all this".
"Oh, and I will". The corner of Harry's mouth momentarily pulled into a sideways grin as he spoke.

The first thing Eggsy realized again was a pounding headache. His torso filled with a dull throbbing pain, but that was quite bearable.
As consciousness slowly returned to him, so did the hazy memories of what had happened. Cambodia, Poppy's diner, the look on Whiskey's face as he pulled the trigger, the pain of the bullets tearing through his flesh… Eggsy shuddered at the memory of that fiery and intense pain.

He must have actually moved, for there immediately was a warm and comforting hand on his uninjured shoulder.
"Eggsy?" It was Merlin's voice. Eggsy rolled his head slightly to the side, but didn't open his eyes. It was only now that he realized that people were speaking in raised voices. His brow furrowed into a crease, for the noise made his head hurt even more.
"Why are you yelling at me?" Eggsy mumbled hoarsely.
"I'm not yelling at you, laddie" Merlin answered kindly. Eggsy slowly opened his eyes now. He found Merlin sitting by his bedside, hand still resting on his shoulder and indeed very much not yelling.
"Welcome back" Merlin said softly the moment he found Eggsy looking at him.
"What's that noise?" Eggsy asked weakly. Merlin didn't reply, but simply motioned his head to his left. Eggsy's gaze followed the direction Merlin had indicated, and he started to understand what was happening.

There, about three feet from the foot of Eggsy's bed, stood Harry. He was speaking in a highly raised voice, directed at Agent Champagne, who stood silently opposite him and was staring at his own shoes, letting the stream of angry words wash over him without protest.
Slowly, the, first incomprehensible, sounds started to make sense to Eggsy and he started to understand what was being said.

"It is utterly unacceptable" Harry spoke still in a raised voice, "my agent was nearly killed, because no one here noticed something fishy was going on! And I cannot be bothered by the fact that Agent Whiskey was working in another city. He is your personnel and therefore your responsibility". It was evident from the expression on Harry's face that he was fuming with anger and frustration.
"You're right" Champ held up his hands by way of apology, "you're absolutely right".
Harry had vented most of his anger by yelling at Champ, and was starting to calm down a bit again.
"He will receive the best care from our doctors" Champ continued, "and this matter will be thoroughly sought out, I can assure you that".
"Thank you" Harry said, not entirely forgetting his manners.
"He'll be alright" Champ shortly clasped Harry on the shoulder, before he quietly left the room.

Harry sighed heavily and turned around to face Merlin, whom he expected would have something to say after this confrontation with Champ.
"Eggsy!" Harry's face lit up instantly, and he was by Eggsy's bedside with two giant strides, "how are you feeling?"
"Not too well" Eggsy answered wearily, "a bit of pain and dizzy, but I guess I'll live". Harry eyed him suspiciously, as if Eggsy was about to drop dead right then and there.
"Really" Eggsy emphasized, seeing Harry's look.
"You need rest" Merlin interrupted, looking shortly at Eggsy, before shifting his gaze and giving Harry a stern look, indicating him to leave Eggsy be.
"Of course" Harry agreed, "Merlin and I still have some work to do, and you indeed need your rest". Eggsy couldn't say he minded much. He was feeling dizzy and exhausted, and the dull pain of his injuries was wearing him rather fast.
Both Harry and Merlin rose to their feet and were about to leave Eggsy alone. Merlin pointed to a small, red button by the side of Eggsy's bed. "If you need anything or if something's wrong, just press that. Someone will come straight away. And I'll send one of the doctors to give you some more painkillers".
"Thanks, Merlin" Eggsy mumbled, who had already settled comfortably back into his pillow and was ready to drift back off to sleep. Merlin gave him a reassuring smile, before he and Harry left the room. Eggsy closed his eyes and fell back asleep almost instantly.

"Harry!"
He screamed the name at the top of his lungs. The image of Valentine's smirking face, looking down on his 'work', were still playing on the screen in front of him.
The horrid realization that there was no way Harry could have survived such a shot, washed over him. Harry, the only person who had given him a chance to prove himself, was dead….
He felt tears burn in his eyes and a hefty lump blocked his throat.

Dead… It was the only thing he could think about. Harry was dead….

A pain washed over him with such an intensity, that he crumpled to his knees on the floor. He buried his face in his hands and cried.
"No… no….no…." His voice grew louder and sobbed heavier with every uttering of the word.

"NO!" Eggsy shot upright in his hospital bed, ignoring the pain of his protesting wounds. He was sweating and trembling, and breathing heavily.

"Calm down, Eggsy".
Harry's calm and collected voice brought Eggsy slightly back to his senses. He looked to his side and found Harry sitting by his bedside. Very much alive.
"Harry?" Eggsy's voice faltered somewhat, "y-you were dead! Valentine, he shot you and I… watched it… and there was n-nothing I could do..." Eggsy was quickly working his way into hyperventilation.
"Eggsy, I need you to calm down". Harry placed a comforting hand on Eggsy's back, "I'm afraid you've been having a rather unpleasant dream. I am not dead, I assure you that I'm truly here".
Eggsy kept his eyes on Harry, as though wanting to make sure that the older agent would not suddenly vanish into thin air. And before he could help himself or fully realized what he was doing, he flung his arms around Harry and pulled him into a tight bear-hug.

After about 30 seconds, Eggsy let go of Harry.
"Sorry" he muttered quietly, but Harry had heard him.
"I've been told that my death has had quite an impact on you" Harry was studying Eggsy's reaction as he spoke. Eggsy contemplated on whether or not he should tell the truth, but finally decided that honesty would be best.
"Yes" he mumbled, plucking at his sheets, avoiding to look at Harry now and swallowing back some tears, "Merlin's been talking, apparently".
"Merlin was worried about you for a while" Harry said, "he feared you might give it all up".
"Thought about that" Eggsy answered, "but then I remembered that you would probably skin me alive if we ever met in another life". He cast a sideways glance at Harry, a mischievous twinkle playing in his eyes now.
"Damn right I would" Harry chuckled. Eggsy made an attempt at laughing too, but found it far too painful on his injuries.

They were both silent for a little while. Eggsy lay still, slowly feeling the panic and hurt of his dream drain from his body and mind.
"Harry?" Eggsy broke the silence after a while, "I'm glad you're back". Harry nodded his head wordlessly, but a careful smile played on his lips.
"And I'm glad you remember me now" Eggsy added with a real smile, as he carefully lay back down and pulled the blankets up to his chin.
Harry laughed. "And I am glad that today hasn't cost you your life" he said wryly, "I could not have forgiven myself if it had".
"Don't worry about me" Eggsy mumbled, now having closed his eyes again as he lay, "you know how they say the riff-raff are hard to kill".
"You are no riff-raff" Harry said seriously now, "you are a Kingsman. And a damn fine one, I may add".