Kingsman: Statesman Meets Challenger

Chapter 9

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Back Statesman's mission control room, Roxy and Merlin pinned Ginger Ale with twin amazed stares.

"Defused a live nuke?" Roxy leaned back in her chair, her expression incredulous. "Was he serious?"

"You seem to know Rafael very well," Merlin temporized, wondering uncomfortably if he should have been a little more overt with his interest in Ginger.

Everything about the way Rafe acted with Ginger indicated he was well aware her main focus was achieving full agent status at Statesman, and wasn't inclined to get involved with anything -or anyone- that would interfere with that goal. But Ginger had achieved that rank now, and it was very obvious Statesman didn't have a problem with their agents having romantic relationships, although they certainly monitored them to some extent. It was equally obvious all Ginger had to do was give Rafael the slightest encouragement, and that friendly affection and regard would become much, much more.

Merlin reined in his speculations sharply, forcing his attention back to the task at hand. They were working, and he needed to focus.

"Well, yes," Ginger said, flushing. "It was one of the Russian suitcase nukes that went missing after the Soviet Union fell. A terrorist group smuggled it into Alaska across the Bering Straits and tried to hold the entire city of Juneau hostage for fifty million dollars- Statesman went in and took them down, but the idiots had tried to rig a fail-safe timer, and didn't know what they were doing. Rafael ended up talking me through disassembling the timer and disarming the nuke in the cellar of the Alaska Capital Building."

"I thought you said you didn't do field work for Statesman," Roxy pointed out, puzzled by the contradiction. "That sounds like field work to me."

Ginger grinned, her face alight with poorly concealed mischief. "I was the only agent in Juneau in range at the time- Champ didn't have any choice but to send me." Her expression shifted to a mild frown, still annoyed at the aftermath of that mission even three years later. "I would have snagged field agent status with that mission if Whiskey hadn't been such a jerk about tanking my promotion."

Roxy caught her irritation and defused the situation with a quick quip. "And it only took being shot in the head and turned into a raging psychotic to fix it," she pointed out lightly, and both Merlin and Ginger laughed. "Have we tried that with Agent Tequila? I'll be happy to administer the bullet."

Ginger looked puzzled while on the monitor screen, Merlin looked pained.

"Agent Lancelot," Merlin said warningly.

Tequila's transfer to Kingsman had been somewhat... rocky, in places. Eggsy considered him a skilled fighter but permanently and perpetually clueless -an opinion Harry heartily shared- but several occasions Roxy expressed an extreme desire to part his skull with a cricket bat, and their working relationship remained strained, at best.

Ginger shot her an understanding glance. "He grows on you," she offered. "Tequila and Whiskey aren't so bad once you get used to them."

"Dandruff grows on you," Roxy said crushingly. "So does athlete's foot. I have no desire to become better acquainted with either, and that includes Agent Tequila."

Ginger couldn't help laughing- she was genuinely fond of Tequila but she had to admit, at least to herself, that 'adorkable' was probably the best term to describe him. Still, people changed- look at Whiskey.

"Back to work," Ginger said, hauling them back to the task at hand. "Let's run down Guilia Compano, then Roxy and I need to catch a flight out of here."