Title: Queen's Gambit
Summary: AU modern. When talented architect Gaius Balter is screwed out of his shares of a company owned by he and billionaire Uther Pendragon, his young apprentice Merlin decides to get even with a scheme to rob him with the help of con artist Gwaine and a few other tricksters. Unfortunately for Merlin, that involves getting cosy with Uther's adoptive daughter; Morgana le Fay. Rated M for profanity, later scenes of a sexual nature and minor violence. Primarily Merlin/Morgana with some Arthur/Gwen and Gwen/Lancelot.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Merlin franchise, and my plot is loosely taken from several films all jumbled together.
Queen's Gambit
::
Foreword
"True friends stab you in the front"
— Oscar Wilde
::
Raindrops splattered like hail stones upon the yellow umbrella that Gaius held in his shaky hands. It was a simple Tuesday night and he found himself on the roof top of Camelot; a three hundred foot tall prestigious hotel on the exclusive district of Mayfair, London. The elite hotel had twenty eight stories, four hundred & fifty three rooms and fifty seven suites. It was just one in a chain of buildings around the world, but the headquarters remained in London, where it was originally founded twenty years ago by multi-billionaire Uther Pendragon and his long time friend and business partner Gaius.
Gaius was once a fresh out of college post graduate architect with a penchant for hanging around the right kind of clubs and night bars. A chance mugging outside on a cold winter night saw Gaius chase off several hoodlums, who had imposed themselves rather roughly on a drunken Uther Pendragon. After Gaius had helped Uther, they had bonded over their love of Edgar Allan Poe and got so drunk that they both woke up in a dumpster the following morning with no shoes on either man's feet. The next morning, they realised they had more in common than they originally thought. Uther was a savvy business man who just so happened to need an architect to draw up building plans for his pitch of hotels.
Fast forward twenty years and Uther had took on Gaius as his business partner. Gaius was the brain and creativity behind everything and Uther had the Pendragon business drive to make sure that they both succeeded. Gaius was the less wealthy of the two, even more so recently due to a small gambling habit that had snuck under his skin sometime around his 70th birthday and fifth mid life crisis. Which is exactly why Gaius was feeling particularly nervous that night, having been called to the roof top of Camelot by his business partner Uther. They always talked privately in Uther's headquarters or discussed their worries openly in boardroom meetings.
When Uther strode onto the roof top with an anxious assistant holding an umbrella over his head and several other men dressed similarly in dubious suits, Gaius instantly knew that something was wrong. He looked upon his long time friend and realised that there was nothing friendly about his expression. Uther had aged well over the years, becoming even more predatory and vicious than his father had been before him. The rain continued to drop, unwilling to let up even for the slightest of moments. It felt like an omen, and Gaius found himself wishing he hadn't come up here alone.
"Gaius," Uther greeted, though it felt more like a warning.
"Care to tell me why you're letting an old man catch pneumonia up here?" Gaius replied lightly. Better not to anger the beast right away.
"Our situation has changed, Gaius," Uther strode forwards again and the anxious assistant hurried with the umbrella to make sure Uther didn't get wet. Uther was wearing one of those black fur coats and Gaius briefly thought that Uther made Cruella de Vil look like Mary Poppins. The atmosphere changed the second he glanced at the aging architect, like prey. Like Gaius was a mink and Uther wanted to skin his fur for a matching hat and scarf.
"Is this about my personal account?" Gaius asked, but he already knew the answer. He'd already drained his personal account from the gambling and owed nearly forty five thousand pounds to various casinos around London. Not to mention the ones in Paris and Las Vegas.
"It's time for a change," Uther said, and he nodded at his five burly henchmen behind him. One of the henchmen pulled out a brown folder from his suit pocket and walked towards Gaius while the others chose to surround him.
"What is this, Uther?" Gaius demanded, more severe this time. His heartbeat was rising slightly. There was no way he could defend himself against one of those guys, let alone five.
"Ownership papers," Uther said coldly, his expression controlled. He didn't look angry, but he sounded it. "I want you to sign over your shares of Camelot. And the new shares you've got with the up and coming Albion."
Gaius gaped, horrified. His entire life's work. "B—But my life, Uther," he rambled, "And I've got bills to pay and—"
"I've paid off your gambling debts, Gaius," Uther interrupted him, "No need to thank me. You'll get your pension, and that's more than you deserve. You actually thought you could keep your gambling problem from me? I'm the champion of secrets, don't you forget that."
Gaius was speechless. More than twenty working years together... all for nothing. Albion was Uther's latest project; the newest in a line of hotel and joint casinos that he was opening up around London, something that Gaius also had a foot in as well. Now Uther wanted Gaius to sign over his shares to both, releasing any ownership to the company and leaving him with nothing but a monthly pension.
All of Gaius' hard work and talent down the drain. Uther would ruin him; nobody would want to hire him after Uther Pendragon blacklisted him. The saddest thing about it all was that Gaius wasn't even surprised. Uther had mowed down a lot of people to get what he wanted over the years and Gaius knew more than the other man would have liked.
"How can you do this to me?" was Gaius' first thought. "We've been friends and business partners for more than twenty years. We've spent every Christmas together since I can remember, I babysat Arthur and Morgana, I'm like your family. How can you do this to me?"
"Family's overrated," Uther replied. "I appreciate all your years of hard work, but you've got to go. You didn't tell me about your gambling problem and it was lucky I found out by my private investigator rather than some rival company trying to blind side me. And let's be honest, you're getting on a bit, you're not as young as you used to be. It's time to let go of the reigns. You're a liability."
Hot angry tears swarmed their way into Gaius' eyes. How dare someone as jaded as Uther Pendragon tell him that he had to let go of the reigns! How dare Uther tell him that he was a liability. The amount of dirt Gaius had on Uther was enough to bury him alive. If anyone was the liability to the business empire's reputation, it was Uther, not him.
"What if I refuse?" Gaius snapped, furious.
Uther actually had the audacity to chuckle. "I think you know exactly what I'll do to get what I want. Surely you don't need me to remind you of Gorlois?"
Gaius breathed in sharply, eyeing the men surrounding him. The man holding the brown folder was still standing in front of him. "Don't you dare talk about Gorlois," he hissed.
Uther laughed again, "Don't play the victim. You knew exactly what would happen to him and I didn't see you putting your life on the line to save the old fool."
Gaius swallowed a lump in his throat. Uther was right; he hadn't saved Gorlois' life, and it had been one of his biggest regrets.
"Sign the papers, I have dinner reservations," Uther commanded.
Gaius stared down at the brown folder, resentful. Then out of sheer stupidity and bravery, he spat, "No."
Uther batted his eyes, bored. Then he nodded quickly and one of the men surrounding Gaius reached out and punched the old man in the gut. Gaius groaned, dropping the umbrella in his hand and doubling over to fall on his knees. The same man kicked him in the stomach and Gaius cried out again. The pain seared throughout his lower abdomen, he couldn't handle it, he wanted to pass out.
"Sign it," Uther gritted out.
The man with the brown folder lowered down and handed Gaius a pen. Gaius' hand shook as he reached out and forced himself to sign on the dotted lines, effectively ending his involvement with the Camelot franchise. The man turned a page over and Gaius signed again; ending any ties to the up and coming Albion franchise that he had most been looking forward to. He dropped the pen and lay his head down on the wet ground, grimacing as the rain threatened to drown him. It was official; he was virtually penniless and broke, if you counted the crappy pension and sideline architect workshop he ran independently.
"Don't look so down, Gaius," Uther took the brown folder from his henchman and tucked it safely under his arm. "There's always spoiled widowers who want skylights."
"You're an evil man," Gaius groaned.
"Then I guess it's a good thing that I have insurance, isn't it?" Uther replied promptly, "If you tell anyone about my secrets, you'll go down too. I hear prison isn't too friendly for traitors," he was already walking away, leaving his ex business partner behind.
"What goes around," Gaius muttered, grimacing.
Uther disappeared with his assistant and five henchmen.
Gaius tried to press himself up onto his arms but he felt too weak and ended up collapsing again. At that very moment, a sharp pain started going up and down his left arm and he cried out, clutching his hand to his chest. He felt like he couldn't breathe, his life was spinning out of control and the pain wouldn't stop. It was torture.
He begged for death, he begged for mercy, but it never came. Maybe he deserved this, maybe this was his karma. Uther was right. Gaius' hands weren't clean either. Maybe this was his comeuppance. Drenched, wet, soaked, the water around him threatened to drown his lungs from the inside out. There was no relief. Only hell.
The last thing he saw before darkness was the murky sky above and like Uther, it was no friend of his.