vii. SKYDIVING

SEVEN.

SKYDIVING

Bex was starting to think that Merlin was either clinically insane or a sadist. His challenges had gotten increasingly difficult and ridiculous as the weeks passed, but jumping out of an airplane with barely any training topped them all.

Bex adjusted the straps around her shoulders, tracing the buckles holding her in tightly. The eight remaining candidates were seated in two rows facing each other, four on each bench on either side of the aircraft. Almost every face was twisted up with nerves and terror under the glinting glass of their helmets except for Charlie, who's ever-present smirk made it look like he was just passing gas. Or maybe he was reveling in the misery and horror of his companions. Knowing the extent of his douchiness and incontinence, either was a safe bet.

Bex clenched her teeth as the plane suddenly shot down. Her bones practically rattled in her skin with the force of every pocket of turbulence the airplane hit, although the she used the word airplane lightly. It was less of real aircraft and more of a collection of scrap metal, held together with a couple rusty bolts, pixie dust, and the five thousandth prayer Roxy was muttering under her breath.

As the tiny plane gained altitude, the air got heavier, and Bex could feel it pressing against the thick fabric of her HALO suit. The pressure in the cabin mounted, along with the pressure on her hand. More specifically, the death grip that Roxy had ensared her fingers in. Bex tried to flex them in a weak attempt to restart the flow of blood to her extremities, but Roxy's hold only tightened.

She was leaned back against the bench they sat on, but her whole body was rigid. Her face was pale under her helmet, eyes squeezed shut and mouth moving in a silent prayer. Bex might've thought she was dead if it weren't for the vice of a grip her poor numb hand was trapped in.

Bex shifted uncomfortably. "So, Roxy," she tried awkwardly. "H-How are you? Doing all right?"

Roxy didn't open her eyes, but her nostrils flared. "I'm great," she hissed.

"Well, if you're feeling a little, er, apprehensive or whatever, you could try looking out the window. It's a nice view. The weather up here is, um...fantastic."

"Yes, Bex, what an incredible idea. I'm thousands of feet up in the air in a tiny metal death trap, about to throw myself out of a motherfucking airplane, which is really nothing, just, you know, my worst fear. But maybe I'll stop my crushing panic for a second to enjoy the scenery. I'm sure that will fix everything and I will no longer feel sheer terror at the prospect of heights! Have I mentioned that I am terrified of heights? Like, shit your pants terrified? Because I am! And right now I am about four and a half seconds away from going into total cardiac arrest. But sure, Bex, the weather is fan-tas-tic."

Bex blinked for a moment at the sudden onslaught of biting sarcasm that had just poured from Roxy's usually gentle, kind mouth.

"I'm feeling kind of attacked right now," Bex said in a small voice.

Roxy ignored her, clenching her jaw. She leaned forward, putting her head in her gloved hands.

"I will not die in this piece of aluminum shit, I will not, I will not, I will not," she chanted under her breath.

"That's the spirit," Bex said, raising her fist in the air weakly.

Roxy glared at her with so much passionate fury and rage that Bex nearly evaporated on the spot. She lowered her arm halfway. Roxy looked down at the ground again, her shoulders trembling.

Bex reached out tentatively and patted Roxy on the shoulder carefully. "Er...There, there."

"There, there? Are you serious? That is the best you can do?" Roxy cried. "When we're back on solid ground I'm going to strangle you!"

Bex raised her hands. "Jesus! Why are you acting so violently?"

"Last week, you told Eggsy if he didn't give you the last piece of bread you would wear his prolapsed colon like a hat."

"That was last week. I'm a different person now. Look, I'm comforting you right now like a good friend! I'm practically Mother Theresa!"

"Yeah, you're a mother all right. A motherfu-"

Eggsy waved his arms around suddenly from the seat on the other side of Bex, cutting Roxy off.

"Ladies, ladies! Let's not fight, okay? Even though that would probably be totally hot I would probably enjoy it immensely-"

Bex kicked him in the shin.

"The more important thing is friendship! And teamwork! And not dying in a fiery crash!"

Roxy groaned. "I think I'm going to throw up."

Bex gestured to Charlie. "May I point you in the direction of an excellent trash receptacle? That lap right there is a prime spot for regurgitation of bodily fluids."

"I'm not going to barf on Charlie, Bex."

"Not even a little bit?" she whined. "What kind of friend are you?"

Before Roxy could destroy her with the hate beams that were practically shooting out of her eyes at this point, the ear piece in Bex's HALO suit helmet began to buzz.

Merlin's stern voice filtered in through the tiny speaker, filling up the space with his monotone accent.

"Listen up," he said gravely. Merlin always sounded grave, like someone had just told him his precious clipboard had been shattered into a thousand irreparable prices. That man seriously needed someone to love. Or a cat. Cats were good for lonely, boring people too.

"The mission is to land in the target without the radar detecting you. If I read you in the radar or you miss the target, you go home. Is that understood? Drop zone coming up in twenty seconds."

At this, Roxy jolted like she'd been shocked. "Oh my god," she whimpered. "I really don't think I can do this."

Bex widened her eyes at Eggsy over Roxy's slumped shoulders. She tilted her head in the petite girl's direction, gesturing violently.

"Eggsy," she hissed. "Do something! Comfort her!"

Eggsy's eyes went wide in panic. "Wha- How? I'm shit at this! Remember when you had the nightmare about-"

"Whatever," she said quickly.

For some reason, Bex felt her face get hot at the memory of Eggsy comforting her and for a second she was glad Roxy was hunched over so she couldn't see Bex turning pink.

"Just, um- think about what makes you happy! Happy things!"

"Oh, god. Um, cats."

"Okay, great!"

"Fuzzy sweaters. The beach. Rose-" Roxy wheezed.

"Who the hell is Rose?"

The plane suddenly dropped ten feet, and Roxy let out a small scream.

"Okay this isn't working. Oh, Jesus I have no idea how to do this."

She spun Roxy around so she was facing her. Roxy's eyes were pressed shut tightly, but they popped open when Bex shook her slightly.

"Rox, listen to me. I'm not really good at this whole comforting friend thing, so fuck that. I'm going to be blunt. You are about to parachute out of an airplane thousands of feet above the ground and it will be terrifying, incredibly dangerous, and yeah, we might all die! But if anyone can do it, it's you. Roxy, you are one of the bravest people I have ever met. You are going to do this, and you are not going to die, you hear me?"

Roxy looked at her, chest rising and falling rapidly with panicked breaths. There was a klaxon-like clang and the red light above her head began to blink green. The doors to the loading bay were beginning to creak open to reveal a sliver of blue sky as Roxy whimpered.

Bex took a deep breath and continued.

"My dad used to tell me something. It's not the way you fall that matters. It's the way you land. This is your chance to prove yourself, Roxy. Life is handing you lemons. So woman the fuck up and let's go make some lemonade."

"That was actually kind of inspiring," Roxy finally said.

Bex gave Roxy a quick hug, squeezing the smaller girl's body tightly for a moment before letting her go.

The loading dock was all the way open now, the wind roaring loud enough to drown out anything below a scream. The candidates were beginning to line up in two's leading away from the opening and Bex stood up, grabbing Roxy. It was time to jump, whether she was ready or not. The first two boys ran, then dropped over the edge, disappearing into the blue sky. The next two followed at an alarming pace. Bex watched Eggsy's blonde hair vanish as he fell out of sight, leaving just the two of them.

Bex took a deep breath and began to start towards the opening. Suddenly Roxy faltered, taking a shaky step back. Bex barely stopped in time, rocking forward on her toes as she grabbed the edge of the carrier doors to keep from tumbling into the air.

"Bex, I can't! I-" Roxy squeaked, gasping for air.

The wind howled around them, forcing Bex towards the mouth of the plane in her precarious position.

"Roxy, stop fucking around!" she yelled over the roar of the engine. "I am jumping out of this plane in three seconds and if you better be right behind me, or we're both as going home! I can't go home, Rox, so your tiny white ass better right behind mine!"

Without waiting to see Roxy's reaction, Bex stepped into thin air. The metal floor beneath her boots gave way to blue sky as she tumbled forward. For one terrifying moment she fell through the air blindly, air tossing her from side to side and filling her ears with a steady roar. Bex felt a scream rip itself from her lungs, only to be snatched away by the wind whistling around her. The world was a blurry haze, and then she lifted her chin and straightened out and suddenly she was flying, not falling.

Bex hung, suspended above the earth. The hum of the engine had faded, replaced with the steady beat of her own heartbeat. Bex soared through a blindingly blue sky, arms outstretched to the patchwork of greens and browns below. She let out a giggle as the tiny wispy clouds rushed up around her, breaking apart into puffs of smoke every time she ran her fingers through one.

Everything looked so small from up here. Like nothing down on the surface really mattered at all. Bex wished she could stay up here in a world of blue and gold forever, far away from her problems.

She turned around to see Roxy hurtling through the air closely behind, arms pressed tightly to her sides and a worried look on her face. Bex grinned with relief, letting the cold air pour through her fingers as she fell with her arms outstretched. She reached the rest of the crew, who were gleefully tumbling through the air.

A pair of hands grabbed her shoulders, making her heart jump. She let out a small yelp and whirled around to see Eggsy.

"Did I scare you?" he teased.

"That ugly face of yours did." She flicked the pane of glass over his face, but the huge shit-eating grin on his face never wavered.

He hadn't let go of her shoulders, and Bex swore she could feel the heat of his palms even through the thick material of her suit. Her face started to turn red again and she felt a strange, empty feeling in her stomach. She was probably just dizzy or lightheaded from the change in altitude or something. Spiraling through the air, holding on to Eggsy tightly and feeling the wind rush past her, Bex felt giddy. And kind of like she was going to throw up, but that was definitely just nausea. Probably.

Roxy drew herself up next to the two of them and Bex was glad for the distraction. She shrugged Eggsy's hands off her shoulders and turned to smile at Roxy.

"Hey," she said into her mouth piece. "Nice of you to join us."

Eggsy gave her a friendly nudge. "Yeah, good girl, Rox."

She managed a weak smile, but before Bex could talk she was interrupted. Merlin's voice flooded her helmet once again as he took control of the channel they all used for communication.

"My, my, you're all very cheerful," he said slowly in a voice that was filled with satisfaction.

By now, Bex knew that voice all too well. That goading, knowing voice meant something was coming their way, and it was never anything good.

"Did you really think it was going to be that straightforward? Any idiot can read a heads-up display. A Kingsman agent need to be able to solve problems under pressure."

Merlin paused for drama, leaving a staticky silence filled with the sound of Bex's heart pounding.

"Like what to do when one of your group has no parachute."

There it was. The gut-wrenching, shocking kicker than never failed to fill them all with dread. Bex felt like she had just been doused in icy water and the grin slowly slipped off her face. She looked at Eggsy in panic, her stomach churning.

The aerial acrobatics stopped as the candidates listened to Merlin's message. Suddenly everyone was looking at each other wildly, trying to figure out which one of them was hurtling towards the ground with no means of salvation. Seven voices began to talk over each other in panic, each clamoring until the noise in her earpiece was unbearable.

The channel went dead quiet as Merlin spoke again.

"I told you. Aim for the target, come in under the radar. And I hope not to be scraping one of you up. But if I do have to and you're inside the target...Well, know I'll be very impressed."

Bex's mind was racing frantically in time to the pounding of her pulse. She reached for a solution, but panic had wiped her mind clean. She looked at Eggsy, eyes wide. He saw the desperation on her face and licked his lips.

"Okay," he yelled over the howling wind and the panicked swell of voices. "Okay, guys listen up! I think I've got a plan!"

He grabbed Bex's hand and raised it up for everyone to see. "Everyone grab a partner! We'll releases our parachutes one at a time, so whoever doesn't have one just hold on to whoever's closest to you!"

Eggsy reached for her, but Bex shook her head.

"Take Roxy, she's terrified! You know what you're doing; I'll take Rufus."

She spun around to see the blonde haired boy. Bex extended her arm to him, and he reached for it until he froze. He looked at her, fear written plainly in his brown eyes. He shook his head slowly and retracted his arm.

"Shit, shit, I can't," he cried.

He reached up and yanked his own cord. Rufus was jerked upwards as his parachute shot out in a wave of white silk. He flew up, a look of relief on his face. Rufus was saved. The rest them, however, were screwed.

"Rufus, you mushy ass banana! I'm going to destroy you! I will rip your intestines out and strangle you with them! I will shove my fist up your miserable butt hole so far that-!"

"Bex!" Eggsy interrupted. "As much as I'd love for you to kick his arse, I think we've got bigger problems!"

Bex took a deep breath, swallowing her anger. She looked around at the rest of them, thoughts racing.

"Okay. Okay, I can work with this," she said, breathing heavily. "Everyone get in a circle!"

When no one moved, she waved her arms wildly.

"Get in a bloody circle! Or an oval! I don't care, just hold hands!"

The others quickly linked hands, forming a ring. Charlie hesitated, hovering outside the circle.

"Charlie, grab someone right now," she said, exasperated. "It's not like I asked you to hold hands around the campfire and sing or some shit! Get in the bloody circle!"

Charlie finally grabbed Digby's wrist, closing the ring. Now they were seven people, a misshapen star falling from the sky together.

Bex swallowed her fear. "All right, we pull our cords one by one. When we find the person with no parachute, the person to their right will grab them and release theirs. No one is dying, got it?"

"Thirty seconds!" Merlin warned.

"Whatever you do, just Titanic this shit and do not let go," Bex yelled.

Roxy let out a whimper under her breath. "Hurry up, you lot, please!"

Digby look around at them. "I'll go first," he said.

He yanked the cord attached to the pack strapped to his back. A parachute shot out instantly, ripping him from the circle as he floated up safely.

"Me next," Charlie insisted. When he pulled his own cord and the parachute shot out, he flashed Bex a cocky grin.

"See you on the ground!"

They slowly released their parachutes, one by one. Each yank was followed by a tense moment of anticipation, but all four had deployed to safety. Now it was just Roxy, Eggsy, and Bex.

"Roxy, you go next."

She bit her lip, squeezing her eyes shut in a silent prayer. "Okay, shit. Okay."

Roxy took a deep breath and reached backwards towards her pack. "Here I go!" she cried.

She reached for her cord, yanking it as hard as she could. For a moment, nothing happened. Bex felt her heart stop. Then, a bundle of fabric shot out, quickly expanding into a parachute. Bex let out a breath of relief, eyes fluttering shut briefly. Then they shot open again as she realized it was just her and Eggsy now. Her blood turned to ice when she realized there was a fifty percent chance there might be nothing to save her in the pack on her back.

She swore under her breath, chest rising and falling rapidly. Eggsy grabbed her wrists, and she tightly locked her fingers around his.

"Bex, no matter what happens now, I've got you," he said urgently, searching her face with his gray eyes. "I've got you, okay?"

"Okay," Bex said, feeling anything but okay.

The ground was coming into focus beneath her, details sharpening as they rapidly approached. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it might fall out of her chest, but she forced herself to look away. Instead, she looked at him.

"You first," he said.

"Wha- No! You go first! What if you get hurt or-"

"Bex, this is not up for discussion," he said through gritted teeth.

"No!" she yelled stubbornly.

A low altitude warning flashed on the screen inside her helmet, blinking red. They were wasting precious time arguing, but Bex refused to risk his life instead of hers.

She held on to him tightly as they hurtled straight towards the earth below at an alarming speed. Warnings lit up all over her screen, letting her know that she was dangerously close to the ground.

Then, he was reaching for her, past her head. Bex protested, but Eggsy ignored her. He groped around for a moment before he found what he was looking for. He yanked on her parachute cord.

She let out a sharp cry as something tugged her upwards. Her parachute shot out, shadowing the sun with an expanse of white fabric. Bex held tightly to Eggsy, the two of them suddenly slowing their descent.

But Bex had no time for relief. They might have slowed, but the ground was still rushing up to greet them at a dangerous speed.

"Eggsy there's no way we can land in that target!" she yelled. "That thing is literally smaller than Charlie's dick, and that is a very high bar!"

Eggsy just swore under his breath and gripped her tighter, pulling her closer to him and locking their knees together. They were pressed chest to chest and Bex buried her face in his shoulder. She let out a small scream as they jerked sideways and Eggsy wrapped an arm around her head.

"Fuck," he swallowed. She could hear his heart pounding even through his suit.

They both braced for impact as they plummeted towards the target. Bex squeezed her eyes shut.

All of a sudden, something hard collided with her body, jostling her body and rattling her teeth inside of her skull. The air leaked out of her lungs as they made impact with the ground. White hot pain shot up her arm as she reached out to break her fall, rolling once.

When the world had stilled, Bex slowly opened her eyes. She wasn't falling anymore.

She was sprawled on the grass, Eggsy, half draped over her. Her chest was heaving and she was shaking, but they were alive. She looked down at Eggsy. His arm was laying at and odd angle and his face was twisted up in pain. Bex struggled to get up on her elbows.

"Are you okay?" she gasped, every word rattling around her bruised lungs.

"Yeah, fine," he managed. "I think my arm might be broken, but it's okay."

He grabbed her hand and gripped it tightly. Bex let out a strangled laugh.

"We did it," she panted, disbelieving.

"Yeah," Eggsy said with a crooked grin. "We did."

"We make a good team," she smiled back.

He looked over at her then, a strange expression on his face and she felt the need to correct herself.

"I mean that we work well together. We're good friends right?" she added hastily, stumbling over the words.

"Yeah," he said. "Great friends."

Bex struggled to her feet, tripping over her deployed parachute slightly. She held a hand out for him to grab. He did and she pulled him to his feet.

"Come on, let's go get that arm fixed up."

───────

a quick note:

i always say a quick note but my author's notes are never actually short. i always just talk about how much i want bex and eggsy to get together (which is stupid because i literally can make them get together) or all the random crap happening in my life

i wrote this on the plane back from europe running on .025 hours of sleep which might be why it ended in such a weird friendzone-y way. basically eggsy's all like oh shit am i catching feelings??? and bex is just like chill m8 let's just eat waffles and throw knives at stuff