Notes: Hello!

I hope you're all safe wherever you are.

I promised a friend to update this today because it's her birthday, so here we are.

I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 9

Kathryn had considered using this heist to escape her captors; she could let herself get arrested and she'd be free. She'd gone as far as actually planning it: she'd make some mistake once she was inside the base -away from Pierce's men -and let the guards catch her.

However, this presented a new set of problems: first, she didn't know if the guards there were told to shoot first and ask questions later. Second, even if they chose to arrest her instead of killing her, this was an anonymous location, and they might choose to torture information out of her. If this was a few years ago, she could be captured and then fight her way out; but what nobody except Chelsea knew was that her knee wasn't good.

She'd been doing the works for her brothers, but then she'd spend days inside her house, suffering with the pains. She hadn't been joking when she told Bastian she was old; she'd abused her body when she was younger, and now she was paying for it dearly.

There were big chances that, if she got captured, she wouldn't be able to escape, and if they figured out who she was… Yes, she'd be in a lot of problems.

And she still considered it. She did, because if she was arrested, if she was sent to prison, Chelsea would be safe. Bastian would never use his niece for his dirty schemes and nobody else knew who she was. But Kathryn knew her daughter; if she went to prison, Chelsea would gather her school friends and break her out of it.

Everything she did was to keep her daughter safe, even not telling Harry about Chelsea. She just kept pushing it for later and later, until she decided it wasn't safe. Harry's life was even more dangerous than hers, she didn't want Chelsea involved with that.

Joke was on her, clearly, because here she was.

She was glad the magnets kept her attached to the underside of the car, because she sure as hell wouldn't be able to hold onto alone, specially considering how bumby this road was. Before Chelsea was born, she'd actually done the same with a train -held on for dear life while it travelled and her back was almost touching the tracks. At the time she'd been strong enough to hold herself with only her arms' strength. Now she needed magnets attached to her.

Getting old sucked.

The car broke down almost in front of the base as it should have, bringing the guards out. The couple inside got out of the car arguing in fast French, like they were about to come to blows. The guards were trying to talk to them, but it wasn't working.

It was the perfect distraction. The guards would be dealing with the couple, hardly paying attention to the car, under which she was hiding.

The place she chose for the car to break down -even that was controlled by her -was darker, because the lights were mostly focused on the road. Of course, there was still light there, but it was less. Enough for her to roll out from under the car without being noticed in the middle of the argument.

The woman attacked her "partner", more soldiers came out and nobody saw Kathryn climbing the walls and dropping to the other side.

Only to come face to face with a rifle. "Fuck." She groaned.

The guard in front of her pulled his mask off, revealing his face. "Hello, Kathryn."

"Harry? Oh you gotta be fucking kidding me." She grumbled.

"Grab those two." He spoke, but it clearly it wasn't directed at her. "Bring them in. Guinevere, perimeter?"

"So far, there's no one else." Kathryn managed to hear the reply, even though the volume was low.

"I'm pretty sure this one here is your brother-in-law, Arthur." Someone called from the comms.

One of the guards beside Harry snorted, but he ignored it all. His eyes were fixed on Kathryn's face. "We need to talk. Take her in."

Great.

XxX

Kathryn was going to kill Harry. How the hell had he figured out this?

Did the Kingsman have even better intel than they'd thought?

It was the only possible explanation, because she was very good at not leaving a trail.

The door of her holding cell opened, and she was ready to give Harry a piece of her mind, when Chelsea came in. "Mum!" She ran to Kathryn, hugging her.

Kat hugged her daughter right back, before realizing what was wrong there. "What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded, taking a step back from Chelsea.

"Rescuing you." Her daughter informed her haughtily.

"Oh my god. You went to Harry." Kat couldn't believe it. Chelsea had never had any interest in her father before.

"It seemed like the best choice." Chelsea defended herself.

"Does that mean… He know?"

"Yup."

"Oh fuck."

"Oh fuck, indeed, Kathryn." Harry called from the door. She hadn't even seen him coming in.

This day just kept getting better and better.

XxX

Bastian was curious to what could be happening.

His cover with his partner was perfect, so that couldn't be the problem. Even if the guards were suspicious of them for whatever reason, they would check their documents and let them go. There were no alarms or movement to indicate that Kathryn had been captured, so they couldn't be suspects on anything.

When they put his partner in another interrogation room, he got a bit more interested. They were supposed civilians, and this wasn't normal procedure. And then he was cuffed to the table like a proper misbehaving boy.

Quite unusual.

Eventually, the door opened and a pretty woman came in.

"Bonsoir, mademoiselle." He drawled with a charming grin.

She sat on the chair across from him. "Bonsoir, Bastian. Do you mind if we talk in English?"

He arched an eyebrow at her. "I don't believe we've met." He spoke carefully.

"I'm Guinevere."

He groaned. "Fuck. The British Kingsman are around?"

"Oh yes." She gave him a pleasant smile.

"Is Harry around?" He pretended to look around the room, as if Harry would pop out from thin air.

"He's talking to your sister." She told him.

"How did you find out about this?" He asked curious.

"Not the point." She put a tablet down in front of herself. "We talked to Louis, and he doesn't think you're traitor, but we do."

"Really?" He sighed dramatically. "To have my loyalty questioned like this… So horrible."

Guinevere sat there, staring at him stone faced.

"Why so serious, darling?" He teased.

"They don't know we have you." She informed him. "If you want to get out of this place alive, you better start talking."

XxX

"How could you…"

"How could I? I can't believe…"

"I had the right…"

"I was doing the best I…"

"She is my daughter!"

"Well, she's mine too!"

So this was what having both parents felt like? Yikes.

Since Harry, the father, had entered the room, he'd been arguing with Kathryn, the mother. Maybe, arguing wasn't the right word, because there wasn't any actual conversation going on; they were mostly talking one over the other.

It was like watching a trainwreck.

"Mum…"

"Give me a minute, Chelsea." Kathryn asked, not even taking her eyes away from Harry.

It had been a peculiar mission. Chelsea hadn't known the full plan -which, fair enough -but the Kingsman had actually being in contact with Interpol for this one. She'd thought they'd break in or something like that, but it wasn't what happened.

Apparently, the person responsible for this place knew and trusted the Kingsman. Merlin had called ahead of time, and they were received as extra security. They were mixed with the normal guards, but most of the original plan was kept in place. However, instead of breaking in with Alicia, Chelsea hung out with the other agent in case her mother actually managed to get in.

But Harry caught her outside.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me!" Harry was saying not for the first time.

He was really upset about that, and Chelsea could see his point. It did make her feel guilty, because she could have gone after him herself, but she chose not to.

It wasn't only her mother's fault.

"Harry." She called. "I didn't…"

"Just a second, Chelsea." He asked, also not taking his eyes off Kathryn.

Chelsea sighed. If she left the room would they come to blows or fuck? Because she felt it could go either way, but the idea of her parents (and she couldn't believe she was thinking about Harry like that) fucking was pretty gross.

"For fuck's sake, Kathryn!" Harry exploded. "Don't you realize how worried I was about you? God damn it, you drive me fucking spare, you know?"

That made Kathryn. "I do." She sighed. "But it's never intentional."

Harry snorted. "Right."

"Oh come on, Harry." Oh lord, her mother was flirting! "You like it."

Hell no. "I'm out." She declared, getting up from the chair.

"What?" Both her parents (still technically true, but it was strange putting Harry in the same category as her mother, but she'd figure that out later) turned to her in shock.

"Is something wrong?" Her mother asked concerned.

"You two clearly need to talk, and I really don't want to be here for this."

Harry was frowning, but Kathryn sighed. "Can you check on your uncle? But don't let him see you."

"Sure." She left, closing the door after herself.

That had been awkward.

XxX

Once Chelsea left the room, silence weighted between them. Harry was the first to move and sit down; he sighed, clearly exhausted and Kathryn felt bad.

Perhaps hiding a daughter from him hadn't been right.

Fine, it hadn't been. However Kathryn had been younger and a bit scared. He was a spy with a dangerous life and she hadn't known what to do with the whole thing.

And maybe...

No, not maybe. She'd been selfish too.

"What's wrong with your knee?"

His sudden question snapped her out of her thoughts. "I beg your pardon?"

"You are favoring your other leg. So what happened?"

Of course he'd notice it. "My knee is bad. It's been for a while now."

Harry glared at her. "And you still thought this was a good idea?"

Was he kidding? "I didn't have a choice, Harry." She growled at him. He was unbelievable.

"You could've come to me for help." He threw back.

"I considered it."

"Considered it?" Harry sputtered. "You could've been killed! You've doing jobs with a bad knee! But you considered it? How bloody kind of you!"

"Don't you talk to me like this, Harry Hart." She snapped at him. "Everything I did was to protect Chelsea."

"Yes, from me apparently." He threw back bitterly.

That took all the wind from Kathryn's sails. "I know there's nothing I can say that will change that… But I am sorry about this, Harry. At the time it did seem like the best choice."

"Why?" He demanded. "Why would it seem better like this? How was it fair to me?"

"I've made up a lot of excuses during the years." She confessed. "There was a time I even said I wasn't sure who the father was, but it was all a lie. I've always known she was yours. And I'd say I didn't tell you because I didn't need you, I was an independent woman. Then, sometimes I'd say it was because your lifestyle was too dangerous for her. I didn't want her involved with spy games. I didn't need anyone. It was safer. It was better… All my excuses were based on those words: safer, better, not necessary."

Harry was dead silent as he watched her.

"But let's be honest now, shall we?" She croaked, her eyes filling with tears. "I was scared and I was selfish. I prefered raising her alone than facing you. I can lie about all the other fears I had, Harry, but the truth is… At first I was scared of what you'd say. I mean, all those years of cat and mouse games where absolutely nothing happens, and then… One night! One single night and I get pregnant."

"It happens." He offered weakly.

"Yes, but what if you didn't think like that?" She asked him. "What if you didn't believe me? What if you called me a liar, a whore? You understand that, Harry? That was my first fear; that you'd turn me away."

"I'd never do that to you, Kathryn."

"We were young, Harry." She reminded him. "You were at the top of your game, you didn't need a kid with a world famous thief in your life. People do and say stupid things in moments of surprise. My fear was what you'd say."

"So you didn't tell me because you were afraid I'd reject both of you." He concluded.

"Yes, that was why. I was mad about you, Harry, I wouldn't be able to take it."

"Wait… What?" Harry blurted. "Mad about…"

Kathryn scoffed and rolled her eyes. "It figures you didn't even know."

"I thought you were just flirting with me."

"Sure. I wasn't stupid, Harry. Boys like you were taught to stay away from girls like me. I could even picture your bland upper-class parents disapproving of me."

"Oh my god!" Harry groaned. "Do you have any idea of how mad about you I was? And I spent most of my time convincing myself that you'd never stick around? Because someone like you would always think I was too bland upper-class for you."

Kathryn massaged her temples. "Oh, Jesus. We were fucking stupid." She murmured.

Harry scoffed. "We were young. Not talking, playing games, it was all easier than actually having a decent conversation."

She chuckled. "Yes. And I won't lie: I had a lot of fun playing with you."

"Me too." He agreed.

They shared a fond smile, before Harry cleared his throat. "What was the second reason?"

"What?"

"For not telling me. You said 'at first', so I figured there was something else."

"There was." She bit her lower lip. "After… I was afraid you'd take from me." She confessed. "I worried you'd say your daughter couldn't be raised by a criminal, and you'd take her from me, and there was nothing I could do to prevent it."

"Why do you have such a negative opinion of me?" Harry asked, clearly unamused by this.

"I don't have a negative opinion of you, Harry." She gave him a look. "But since I became a mother, Chelsea became my first one concern, everything I cared about. Losing her…"

"I can only imagine, Kathryn."

She sighed once again. "I'm truly sorry. I'll never say it enough times, Harry. I hope one day you can somewhat forgive me for it." The tears she'd been holding back since the beginning of that conversation finally fell.

"Kathryn." He grabbed her hands. "Look, this is the worst moment possible for us to have this conversation. I'm angry at you, I won't lie. I feel robbed of so many experiences, so many moments… But I won't punish you for that, because… Honestly, what's the point?"

She looked at him, confused. "But you're angry."

"I'm furious; and I'll remain furious for a long time. I plan on telling you that often, actually."He admitted. "But the thing is… I want a chance to get to know Chelsea better, and I don't want it to be a battle with you. I want a chance for us to work something out."

"Even though you're still pissed."

"Yes."

"I guess that's fair." She dried her tears. "We'll have a lot to talk about."

"Yes, later. We'll get you out of here first. The question is… What about your brother?"

"Oh fuck." She groaned. "I'd forgotten all about him."

"I wish I could say the same."

XxX

"You won't kill me." Bastian spoke confidently.

"How do you that?" Susan asked him, carefully polite.

"Harry wouldn't let. Kathryn would never forgive him."

"But she doesn't know we have you." Guinevere informed him. "As far as she knows, she was captured and you left. I can kill you now, and then we can tell her it was whoever organised this little party."

Bastian arched an eyebrow. "Good bluff, darling, but I still don't buy it."

"Fine." She agreed easily. "Lancelot, come in."

The door opened and a young woman came in. "Well, look at the Kingsman mixing up. I'm all for equal opportunities, ladies. Congratulations." Bastian clapped dramatically.

Lancelot didn't say anything, just pulled a pistol with a silencer attached to it. "Where?" She asked the other woman, pointing the gun at Bastian.

"Wait…" Bastian was a bit more alert.

"Let's start with shoulder." Guinevere decided, then looked at Bastian. "I wouldn't move, if I were you. Lancelot is a crack shot, but if you try to move she might hit something else."

"You are not going to shoot…"

Lancelot shot him in the shoulder.

She really was a crack shot.

Notes: Harry and Kathryn had what we Brazilians affectionately call a DR (discussão de relacionamento, or a relationship discussion, if you may).

Things are not solved, but we can all see that old flame still very much there ;)

I hope you liked it.

Let me know your feelings.