Chapter Text
There he was, locked up in interrogation room two. Again. The beat cop who had brought Eggsy in hadn't stayed. Eggsy was pretty sure he knew why, and he was fine with that. He was more than fine, actually. Eggsy was as relaxed as he would be at home, if not more so. The station was probably more of a home to Eggsy than his mum's apartment has been since Dean and his lap dog moved in. At least at the station there were people who gave enough of a damn about Eggsy to be disappointed by his choices. He wouldn't deny that he often acted out for the attention.
Eggsy heard a click come from the door handle and quickly rearranged himself into the most obnoxious position he could think of—feet on the bare table and a smirk on his lips. The door opened to reveal an older man dressed in a suit, looking grim. He carried a folder in one hand at his side. Eggsy knew it to be his own, and his smirk grew wider. The folder was almost thick enough to be proud of.
The older gentleman, Detective Hart, didn't look amused, but he did nothing to quell Eggsy's obviously good mood either. The detective approached the table and slapped the folder down before pausing to remove his jacket and drape it over the back of his chair. Detective Hart still hadn't said a word by the time he sat down and began to flip through Eggsy's folder. The man slowed his pace on what must be the newest report. Eggsy studied carefully, watching the detective for what mood he might be in or what his reaction might be to what he was reading. Eggsy didn't have to wait long; both of the detective's eyebrows shot up toward his hairline.
It wasn't often that Eggsy surprised Detective Hart, and Eggsy might have felt more proud of that if he hadn't also seen the tiredness lining the detective's eyes.
Mr. Hart closed the file with a sigh, and after a moment, he finally met Eggsy's eyes. "Auto theft, reckless driving, evading arrest. Eggsy, I hope I don't have to tell you how serious this is."
"Aww, Harry. It weren't like that. Just a bit o' fun, really."
"A bit of fun?" The detective scrubbed his forehead in agitation. "You could have been hurt. You could go to prison. Eighteen months, Eggsy. Does that sound fun to you?"
Eggsy didn't really have an answer for that, so he shrugged. He wasn't exactly sure why he wasn't freaking out more about this, actually. Maybe it hadn't hit him yet.
"How do you think your mother and sister will fare during all that time?" Harry asked.
That was a low blow. The smirk dropped from Eggsy's face, a snarl taking its place. "Don't you dare talk about me mum an' sis. Don't you fuckin' bring them into this conversation. It ain't got nuffin' to do with them."
For a minute, Eggsy thought Harry might press the issue, but he didn't. His mouth snapped shut and pressed into a firm line. They sat in silence for some time, Eggsy fuming and Harry thinking. Or whatever the fuck he was doing. Wasting time, probably.
"Robertson said you refused your phone call?"
"Who the fuck d'ya think I'd call? Dean?"
"Right, well. How I see it is you've got two options. You can ask for a lawyer now, and we will see each other in court in a few days. Or . . . you can spend tonight in jail and maybe we can come up with a deal in the morning to satisfy us both."
"I don't know wut you fink you're gonna get from me. You know I ain't never grassed anyone up. I ain't about to start neither."
"I know, Eggsy. But it's your choice." Detective Hart smiled, but it was a bitter one.
"What you want, then?" Eggsy could never quite figure this man out.
"What I want is to never see you here again," Detective Hart answered, voice sharp. Eggsy knew the detective didn't mean it like that, but the words still stung like a slap to the cheek. "You're not a teenager anymore." Harry's tone was suddenly softer than before. "You're twenty-two now. This may be the last chance I have to offer you. Please take it, Eggsy."
"Yeah," Eggsy's voice broke, but he ignored it. "Alright."
Detective Hart nodded and stood up from his chair. "I'll have Robertson come and escort you to your cell."
Eggsy didn't look up, suddenly feeling like he couldn't meet Harry's eyes, but he dipped his head to show that he had heard.
After a pause, Eggsy said, "Get some sleep for me, yeah?" He couldn't tell if the detective had heard. The door clicked shut a second later.
* * *
This wasn't Eggsy's first night spent in a jail cell. In fact, this was probably Harry's favorite punishment for Eggsy. He'd been throwing Eggsy in here every time he fucked up since the day he turned eighteen. At first, Eggsy had thought Harry—back then a regular cop—had been trying (and failing) to scare Eggsy by exposing him to "real" criminals. Harry would throw Eggsy in jail for a night any time Harry could think of an excuse to do so. If Eggsy had so much as breathed in the cop's direction, Eggsy got a free ticket to the station for the night.
But then one time, the slightly younger cop had slipped, and Eggsy knew that Harry was aware of almost everything that went on in Eggsy's so-called home. Harry knew about Dean's sketchy "business", and Harry knew that Dean was sometimes more than a little rough with Eggsy and his mum. And suddenly Eggsy realized that Harry wasn't just trying to scare him with burn outs and mumbling homeless people. Harry was trying to keep Eggsy safe, even if he could only do it one night at a time. Eggsy always wanted to ask why Harry didn't just do something if he was so worried, but then Eggsy would catch the worry in Harry's eyes or a small smile on his lips from something Eggsy had said, and the question would die on Eggsy's lips. He didn't want to change anything by acknowledging that he had caught on to Harry's plot.
But things started changing anyway, it would seem. Harry was promoted to detective a year after Eggsy had made his discovery, and Harry suddenly had less time to spend pulling Eggsy in off the street. Eggsy had to work now to get the other cops to bring him in. At least Harry was still available to give Eggsy the requisite dressing down and punishment of a one-night stay. And now Eggsy had gone just a little too far.
Eggsy shivered as he lay down on his cot, so he pulled his garish jacket tighter and tried to push the memories from his mind. Detective Hart would have a deal in the morning. Eggsy just had to sleep until then.