Arthur is a remodelling contractor. Merlin is his assistant. Morgana is an Archeologist.

Disclaimer: Most of the characters of this story are borrowed from Merlin BBC TV show, and belong to its , the plot is mine and mine only.

Summary: While remodelling an old chapel, Arthur and Merlin discover a legendary stele.

Special thanks: I'd like to offer this particular story to Enjoymyyouth and Rusfan, and of course Tivaroo, for their everlasting support.

Miscellaneous: I love dialogues, maybe a little too much, for the interaction and sparks it gives between characters, and generally can't do with the 'he said', she 'said' common use. I'll try to keep them short, and add some tips here and there about who's talking, but please accept my apologies in advance if I got lost in the process, I most certainly will. Now, let's begin…

Once upon a time lived a knight and a lady… Woops…*paper folding* Sorry…;)

I

From Morgana
To Merlin

Object: Site visit

Dear Merlin
As discussed yesterday, I'll be on Site tomorrow morning.

Looking forward to see you there,

Morgana :)

*

The yard was desert. He checked his watch. It was not break-time yet. The site should have been busy with masons and carpenters. Hard-hat in hand, he walked to the field-quarters. The office was empty. Computers and fax were on, coffee pot was full, but Merlin was nowhere to be seen. Arthur frowned. Please, not an accident! They had enough on their plate already… A whistle and roar of laugh called him out.

Exited through the rear door, he saw all his staff grouped around the excavation. Some guy elbowed his neighbour with a broad grin: "Nice view, huh?"

"Don't you have a job waiting?"

The laughs and appreciative comments stopped at once. All men excused themselves and disband to their own tasks. Arthur approached the dig. Sure enough, Merlin was at the bottom; he waved his hand: "Hey boss!"

He was not alone. His companion stood but Arthur already knew why the guys had taken an early break: "Hello Morgana."

She held his stare, green ice against blue steel. He aged well; very well, indeed. God, he was more handsome than ever. His blond air, a little too long, were brushing his collar and he had grown a Van Dyke beard in the last years. Morgana tried to ignore how the strong muscles of his fore-arm tightened when he helped her up the slope. The heat of his hand on her was devastating. She pulled away as soon as she was on flat ground, before she burnt into ashes.

Merlin climbed up right behind her, and scrutinized both his friends before sighing:
"So, coffee, anyone?"

Arthur followed suit to the field-quarters. She was gorgeous. Of course Avalon was to send her after his request… She was their best expert, after all. She was walking in front of him, clasped in jeans and immaculate tee-shirt and he already had a hard-time focusing on anything but her. Hell. Helping her out of the excavation had been a mistake. Now he craved to touch her again. She kept the door opened for him and their eyes met. Lightning struck somewhere. He had to touch her… Merlin put a boiling mug his hold-up hand, burning him back into his senses.

Morgana sat down at one end of the table, as far from Arthur as possible. Merlin asked:
"So what do you think, Morgana?"
"Well, I need to see the stele itself. The excavation is totally wasted…"
"I have a field-work operation here, Morgana, I'm not doing needlepoint."

Arthur sounded angry. Figured. She went on without even acknowledging the interruption.
"...Is totally wasted because of the rain. Thanks god you took a good batch of pictures before removing the artefact."
"That was Arthur doing, mostly."

She should have known. The guy was good; good and incredibly sexy. Focus, Morgana… Think about the job and just ignore him. No don't look at him blowing on his coffee… He had the most alluring kissable mouth…
"I could have used some scale on the pics, though. Anyway…"
"Do I have to close the site?"

She had forgotten how prompt he was to cut in. She hated that. Morgana took a sip of her own coffee before answering:
"I don't know. Maybe it's best. But if you want me to do a survey, I will need to borrow a couple of your men."

He relaxed, just a bit, as she gave a tentative smile. So the guys would not loose their day-jobs; he could manage a delay. He was working for the Museum after all. Historic rescue was part of the deal… Merlin smiled happily:

"We found something then."

Morgana grinned back. People were always either excited or gloomy when a potential archeologic discovery was made on construction sites. Merlin was the enthusiastic. Arthur was… Well, Arthur: falsely unconcerned, playing cool and interested only his men well-being. She loved that. Complete turn-on. Definitely annoying.
"That's settled then. You'll endure me for a couple of days."

Oh enduring was exactly the right word. Her scent was already all around, tempting torturing him. He stood up:
"Fine. You can install yourself over there." He gestured a large desk in the back. His was on the other side of the room. So if they kept random encountered by the copy-machine or cafeteria to a minimum, he would survive this. He proposed:

"I'll take you to see the stone in half-an-hour. Merlin have to check on the BOQ."

Morgana hesitated. Come on, girl, you can stay alone with him in a remote, dim room without jumping his bones. Sure you can… He was waiting for an answer, daring her to deny:
"Okay."

Morgana 1 – Arthur 0. Liar.

N/A: The system does not accept any form of email adress... I had to settle for only names. I liked the idea of emails, this program sucks :P