A Lying In Westminster

by MissPopuri

Arthur is a secret agent, Merlin is a wannabe rocker/newfound daddy, Gwen is a very opinionated college student, and Morgana ties them all together. With many original and canon characters showing up, it is noted that much hilarity is bound to happen.

Stepping out of the Bentley outside of his father's home on Dartmouth Street in Westminster, Arthur stretched and made his way up to the front door. He was greeted by a graying man who offered to take his jacket. Obligingly, Arthur took off his coat and handed it to the man.

The man greeted him, warmly, "It is good to see you again, Master Arthur. You have changed so much since the last we've seen of you."

Nodding his head, Arthur smiled and said, "It's good to see you, too, Peter. Is my dad at home this morning?"

"Yes, young master, the master of the house is in today. He should be here all week while Parliament is in session," Peter informed Arthur. He added, "He's going to be upstairs in his study all morning."

Giving Peter a pat on the back, Arthur nodded again and made his way up to his father's study. It was a long time since he'd climbed these stairs as a child. It felt even weirder coming home after all these years.

Slowly, Arthur creeped into the library, his father was perusing documents and other loose pieces of paper on his desk in the center of the room. Clearing his throat, Arthur knocked on the door to announce his presence.

Uther looked up from his concentrating state, peering over his glasses at the intruder. A smile appeared on his face when he saw Arthur standing there. He got up and went to hug his son. "I am so glad you are okay, Arthur. You had me worried sick."

Shrugging his shoulders, Arthur let his father hug him. "I am sorry to have worried you, dad, but I am perfectly fine. Better, I should say."

It was not much, but Uther laughed at his son's sarcasm.

Arthur went on, "I'm only visiting. My old friend, Merlin, called me before I got on the plane in Jacksonville. He is looking for a roommate after one of his flat mates had gotten married, and he needs to someone to share the rent. I'm going to be helping him out with that."

"Very well, I see you want to do things on your own. You are just like your mother," Uther commented, "she was always wanting to help out when she could. God rest her soul." He bowed his head and crossed himself in a moment of silence.

Arthur looked thoughtfully at his father. Despite not seeing him in six years, he really had not changed. The last time he came home, it was shortly before going off for basic training in North Carolina. Likewise, he didn't get to see his father en route to Iraq and Afghanistan when they changed planes in England en route to Germany and the Middle East.

His father broke his train of thought when he spoke again. "Have you given any more thoughts to going to university?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Arthur was not particularly pleased to be asked this question. It was one of the main reasons he avoided his birth home and his father. There was bound to be an argument over whether he should have or should not have gone onto University instead of joining the military in the States. To avoid getting into an argument, Arthur decided to answer his father's loaded question with, "I've currently been given a few days' leave before I get my next assignment. What exactly did you have in mind?"

Uther smiled. He was glad that his son seemed open to the idea even though it was nearing the end of the current semester. Next Fall, he will be certainly able to start. "I have a professor friend over at East Anglia who would be more than happy to let you sit in on his class." Uther paused for a minute.

"Go on," Arthur prodded, "what's this professor do anyway?"

Breathing in a sigh, Uther let it out before continuing. "He's a Professor of Economics. If you like his lecture, you can look into getting a major in Political Science and take over your father's seat in Parliament one of these days."

"What if I have no intention of being in politics? The Pendragons aren't the royal family of Britain. We can't deign our successors a place in Parliament," Arthur countered. He took a breath and continued, "East Anglia sounds familiar, has it been in the news recently?"

Waving a hand flippantly, Uther brushed off the question. This annoyed Arthur more than anything, his father always brushed off his questions. It was terrible knowing that his father might be keeping secrets from him. "I can call you in for tomorrow if you will go."

Arthur nodded his assent and asked, "I'll do anything to avoid an argument."

"You were always a good son," Uther clapped a hand on Arthur's shoulder and shook it firmly, "I knew I could count on you to do the right thing."

Rolling his eyes, Arthur added, "I will only do this to get you off my back. I'm 24 years old, and I don't feel like fighting you anymore, dad. Of course, I will determine for myself whether it is the right thing for me or not. I've already got a job within MI-6."

The face Uther made was grotesque. He was dumbstruck to say the least. It left him speechless.

Arthur knew that his father was just as stubborn as he was obstinate. If there was ever a more appropriate term for the relationship between himself and Uther, it would be to call them two bulls in a china shop.

Of course, this one bull was being tranquilized after years of separation from his father. The incident many years ago caused his father to send Arthur to live with his aunt and uncle in Florida. It is still too traumatic an experience for Arthur to retell even now. Maybe someday, he will have the stones to relive his nightmare.

"Very well," Uther finally said, "I guess I have no choice but to let you decide for yourself. You really are just like your mother. That American spirit she had, it was one of the many reasons why I married her."

Horrified that his father would start talking about his mother in some unholy way, he lifted up his hands and made a nondescript gesture. "Please, we don't need to hear the details."

Uther started to speak again, but Arthur put up his finger with a warning look on his face.

"Oh, you win. I won't," Uther asked another question, "have you talked to Morgana recently?"

Arthur thought about it then replied, "Nope. I haven't talked anyone other than Merlin, and that's only because he found me via Facebook."

Mouth forming an o shape, Uther closed it, then said, "Anyways, I hear she's doing well. She is actually finishing up at East Anglia now. It's surprising that she would go there after her father told me that she ran off with a biker gang when she was 18."

"And how much money did you pour into her education fund to send her there, dad?" Arthur asked, knowingly.

Uther frowned. "You caught me. I did pay for her schooling."

"Even after she left her father's home to join a biker gang?"

"All people deserve a second chance, son."

Maybe his father was right. Arthur wasn't entirely sure what to think of the whole episode of Morgana walking out on her family at 18. He was only 16 at the time.

Without saying anything else, he thanked his father for the educational recommendation and left his father's Parliamentary estate.

If he made the next train, he could make it to Merlin's flat before nightfall. He was only too hopeful.

Gwen walked into her place and slid partway down the door when she slammed it behind her. Her feet were killing her after the eight hours she spent on her feet. This would be the last time that she worked on her off day from school, she was going to have to rearrange her schedule later with her boss.

With much effort, Gwen finally got up and headed for the kitchen area.

She was shocked by the sudden hug she found herself in when she walked into the kitchen. Morgana embraced her so tightly that if Gwen hadn't been trying to wake up, she would have woken up with the onslaught of dark curly hair and flowery perfume wafting in her nose. She returned Morgana's hug before she broke away, and asked, "I see that you missed me, but what was that about?"

Smiling, Morgana went back to what she was doing. She replied, "I saw that you left your phone, and some of your messages scared me." She looked shame faced, but Gwen couldn't really be mad at her friend for cautious.

"What did the messages say?" Gwen was trying to stay calm while understanding that Morgana looked at her private texts. "Did you leave my phone some place?"

Morgana pointed to Gwen's room while she was stirring some Ramen around in a bowl. Gwen went into her room and picked up her phone. Scrolling through her inbox, she found all the messages Morgana had previously opened. It made her nervous to look at them since they freaked out Morgana, but she had to be brave and look at her own tortured phone.

The messages were heinous. It made Gwen's teeth itch to read them. She wanted to know how they got her number. There was a familiarity to the speaker's tone of voice; however, it seems weird to Gwen that she could possibly hear a voice from a text message. No wonder Morgana sounded freaked out when she walked in, it would have freaked her out too if she found those messages in Morgana's phone.

Walking back into the kitchen, Gwen asked Morgana, "Were you in my room cleaning when my phone went off?"

Avoiding eye contact, it was evident that Morgana had been in Gwen's room when the phone buzzed. Gwen never put her phone on anything other than vibrate or silent. She blushed when she admitted to being in her room searching for something when the phone went off.

Gwen rolled her eyes. She knew Morgana better than that. Morgana was obviously looking for money for drugs or whatever dealer she owes now. Her benefactor would also be pissed if he found out what she was still doing with his money. It was almost too bad that she comes from a rich family herself.

"I know what you must think, Gwen. Maybe I should just kick myself out on the street; it would be so much easier than putting you through this all the time." Morgana solemnly said as tears silently ran down her face.

Pursing her lips in thought, Gwen's heart hurt to hear her friend talk in this manner; even though, they had not been friends very long. "I don't think you should be talking any more about that. You still have one more year of school before you graduate, and we can work even harder to bring you back from that dark place you find yourself."

Sniffling, Morgana choked back her silent tears. She embraced her friend again this time to lean her head on her friend's strong shoulder. Gwen rubbed her back in a soothing pattern, whispering into Morgana's hair, "Shh, you're okay. We all know what you are capable of doing. Your family has faith in you," she added, lifting up Morgana's face and holding her cheeks in her hands, "and I have faith in you, Morgs. Whatever danger comes upon us, we will stand together and face down our demons. We are like two peas in a pod."

Morgana laughed for the first time since Gwen got home. A small laugh but Gwen took this as an opportunity to turn on the telly. It was a good thing Russell Howard was on the screen. Full fledged comedy was always easier to watch than Romantic comedy in this situation. A good thing too for Morgana because she was obviously in love with Mr. Howard.

Was college supposed to be this boring, Arthur thought, as he was sitting in the professor's lecture hall at East Anglia. The man was nothing more than a drone to be honest. He couldn't have been sitting in more than ten minutes of this lecture when he was seriously thinking of walking out without raising his hand. It didn't seem likely that students had to seek permission to walk out of a class in a university. They just did it.

He was eying the other students sitting in the amphitheater seats. Some were taking notes, others were sleeping in the back; one couple was making out. Arthur tried not to pay attention to it, but he was amused by the teacher's lack of attention altogether. It wasn't like he was against PDA, but he was still uncomfortable by the full on tongue action in class. You would wonder why he hadn't left already. It would be easier to plan the escape where his walk out wasn't noticed by anyone; unfortunately, there was a certain group of blonde girls that were staring at him from the other side of hall. It would make it near impossible to avoid them if he left, and one or all of them followed him out to the quad or into the lavatory. Talk about embarrassment!

As he brought out a pen from his notebook, he was contemplating dropping it in the aisle and ducking out without the girls across the hall seeing him. He was clicking his pen, trying to remain contemplative in a boring class, while waiting for a chance to throw his pen into the aisle.

While the teacher's back was turned, Arthur threw the pen into aisle and dove for it. He was on the floor crawling up the steps to the door. Unfortunately, he didn't credit the teacher in having a selective attention span.

"Are we boring you, Mr. Pendragon?" The professor asked nonchalantly, "I know my methods are not what you are used to in American education, but why don't I allow you to role play a little?"

Arthur froze midway through his movement to escape. Slowly, he stood up and turned around to look the professor in the face. He wasn't even sure what the man was talking about. Role playing was not what he had in mind at all, he wanted to get out of this hellhole as fast as possible.

Grinning like a Cheshire cat, the professor continued, "I know exactly the type of role play we can perform. Come down here, and we can find another hapless volunteer to help you out."

Without speaking, Arthur went down to stand next to the man who caught him trying to escape. He looked up at the eyes and faces of the students around the lecture hall. Spotting the couple still making out in the darkened corner, he mentally rolled his eyes. Life is never fair; it was always a bitch to the good and kind hearted. He was handed an envelope and instructed to open it. Not showing anyone, he had to act out the card. Also, he had free reign over any props he might deem appropriate for this exercise.

Professor Jerk Face was looking for another sap to con down to humiliate Arthur further. He was praying that the blondes raising their hands weren't going to be selected for this even though it would be nice to see them get tormented for embarrassing him earlier. Even though his luck didn't help him from getting caught escaping, the professor picked someone who wasn't raising their hand to partner with him in his shame.

This girl was not surprised to be picked, but she wasn't pleased either. It looked like she expected it, too. She caught Arthur's blue eyes with her dark brown ones, and she stepped forward to accept her responsibility.

"Very good, Ms. Leodogrance will show Mr. Pendragon how we deal with troublemakers in my class." The professor handed Gwen the envelope and whispered to begin when they were ready.

Yowzers! Arthur had to go through with this role play. He looked again at his card, and it was pretty straight forward. He was a bank lender for some high end banking institution. It also said that he had to make sure he checked each applicant's credit history and rating. This sounded simple enough, he was given free reign over props so he went to sit down at the professor's desk and signaled to the girl that he was ready.

Gwen smirked at this silly blue eyed man gesturing her to start. It was going to be too easy to humiliate him in front of the entire class. She grabbed a thick manila folder as a prop and crossed the room to signal she was ready as well.

To start, Arthur picked up the phone on the desk, pretending it had just rung. "Yes, I am free, madam secretary, send up the applicant right away. I have a golf tournament starting this afternoon." This was Gwen's cue to enter the staging area, and she stood in front of the desk, the paper work in her hand.

"Good morning," Arthur greeted warmly, he continued, "what kind I help you with today?"

Setting down the paperwork on the desk, Gwen meekly said, "I am here to get a loan for a new business."

"I see you have a credit history," Arthur asked, thumbing through the paperwork, "but we would like to see that you haven't defaulted on anything in the last year and a half." Gwen remained unmoved while Arthur continued, "company policy you see, the economy has been in a fix recently. We have to make sure our loans can be paid back in a timely fashion you see."

This time, Gwen started, "I will have you know that my accounts are solid. There are no problems with my finances, and I need the money to start my business."

"Yes, yes, I will look into it right away," Arthur gestured to the professor who took the papers and whispered into Arthur's ear. "We cannot be too cautious in these tough economic times."

Gwen smirked again when she said, "Are you saying that because I'm black?" Arthur's mouth suddenly went dry and his brows knitted together in a quizzical expression. How did this take such an awkward turn of fate, it seemed like an unwarranted accusation, but he decided to play along.

"I'm sorry if you feel that way, but it is not my attitude to discriminate nor is it company policy to do so."

"Why did I see my neighbor get a loan for his business when he asked the same day?"

"It takes twenty minutes to check our database, and our computers have been acting slow today. My apologizes for your wait, we are doing our best to remedy the problem. It's our servers giving us trouble."

"I will take my money right now, or else, I will bring a civil injunction against your company."

Arthur's eyes widened. This was not going to be easy, she wasn't exactly being rational right now. Maybe it was just the role play, but this seemed also personally motivated. He decided to remain calm when he said, "Sorry for the wait again, I will try to hurry the process along."

"Time is money, sir. I need it now," Gwen's voice was impatiently saying.

Instinctively, Arthur would have slugged any of his friends if they asked him for money in the manner to which Gwen asked, but this was supposed to be a bank president and his client. He had to show a bit more tact. "If I can't get you the money from this bank, I've got some in a private ESCROW account if that would satisfy." Of course, this wasn't all Arthur had to say. His mouth exploded with word vomit that would rival that Cady Heron in Mean Girls. Perfect, he was making a complete idiot of himself.

Grinning, Gwen looked at Arthur with a sense of satisfaction on her face. The bell rang before Arthur could question the look that crossed her face and get her first name.

Even the snogging couple had heard Arthur suggest the payment out of his own pocket, his ego just fell straight into the floor with all eyes laughing at him as they got up to walk out of the room.

Relaxing on the couch in his old friend's flat, Arthur was not in the mood to hear Merlin ridicule him for anything. He waited patiently while Merlin laughed himself silly.

Snorting a final laugh, Merlin finally said, "I can't believe you actually went there. University is a buzzkill. I'd rather blast my music at the man than bow before him to kiss his ass."

"Are you done?" Arthur asked. He was terse but genteel about it. "I still can't believe that you are the same little ass who my mother set me up on play dates to see. Explain to me why I am even still your friend after you insulted me?"

Merlin shrugged and smiled, "Because I wouldn't hear of your sweet derrière sleeping on those prissy sheets, it would look bad if I let an old friend slip through the cracks."

"Tell me, Merlin. Are you just born indifferent or is that a skill you picked up while doping?"

"As a citizen of the UK, I have a right not to answer questions which could damage my reputation."

Arthur rolled his eyes, grabbed the remote, and turned on the telly. Maybe there was something good on at four in the afternoon, he needed something mindless to focus on. He wasn't paying attention to when Merlin continued talking on about whatever until:

"You coming to the club tonight? My band is playing a few sets tonight. There might even be ladies who go for your whole "I'm a mopey sap sack" routine there. It would do you good to get laid."

Looking up at Merlin from the telly, Arthur answered, "If I needed help in the love department, I wouldn't ask you for it."

"When was the last time you were on a date?"

Taken aback, Arthur said, "I just got here a couple days ago. I went out with someone the week before I boarded the plane here. I can always go stay at my family's estate out in the burghs."

Merlin countered, "I wouldn't hear of it. You are still coming to the club. It will be a lot more exciting than sitting at home watching EastEnders."

Arthur's eyebrow shot up, was he really going to listen to this little punk? He did have a point though. At 24 years old, Arthur needed to get out and experience life. With blonde hair and his mother's blue eyes, he deserved to have a little bit of fun. Why did everyone have to make him feel cheap? It would be hard on anyone to go through such a traumatic experience as role playing a business transaction gone wrong. Everything always seemed to come down to race and class when a black person mixed with a white person.

Music and drinking seemed like a perfect combination, Arthur assuredly thought. He said, "Alright, I'm in."

"He said what?"

Gwen shushed her friend, Morgana, with her hand as she maneuvered her to a quiet spot out of ear shot on campus. She repeated, "He pretty much wants to privatize industries from the public sector and disband the NHS," she added after the fact, "he's one of those Thatcherites. You heard what Thatcher was like, we can't let another 18 years of Conservative rule occur."

Morgana shook her head. "I know his family. He means well, but I can't see him being a Thatcherite."

"I heard him. He's a Tory through and through." Gwen asserted.

"Truly? Well, if worse comes to worse, we might have to see if he was right after all."

Making a face at her friend, Gwen stuck her tongue out at Morgana. She added, "The double entendre there is obvious."

Grinning, Morgana curtseyed. She changed the subject to ask, "What are you doing tonight?"

"Me? I'm probably going to head back to our place, do some homework, and have an early night."

Morgana rolled her eyes. "On a Friday night? It's the weekend, you need to live a little, girl," she clapped Gwen on the shoulder, squeezed and shook it, "booze, music, men, this is a critical time in our lives. We don't get this chance again. Do you really want to give up your once in a lifetime chance?"

With a grimace, Gwen answered, "I just got over a bad break up with my boyfriend," as she studied Morgana curiously, she asked, "are you feeling okay? You weren't exactly perky last night."

Shrugging off the last part, Morgana answered, "That was two months ago, you need to put yourself out there again," Morgana assured her, "it would be so much easier to forget life when you are living another one in the process."

Scary thought, but it was true. Gwen didn't date anyone before she met Lance. It felt right at the time to give her heart and her whole self to him, but it left her still feeling empty inside. Since the break up, she had devoted herself to furthering her studies and getting involved in politics. This world is going to belong to her generation someday, and she might as well get familiar with the power structure now.

If she was going to do anything, she might as well enjoy herself tonight. It took a lot of effort for Gwen to say, "Yes, I'll join you tonight."

For the first time since her break up, she was not going to let her emotions get the best of her.

The club was packed with people listening to the music provided by Merlin's band. Girls in various stages of drunk were grinding up against Arthur as he tried to make his way out of the zone dedicated to those groupies bouncing up and down to the very lyrical strains of the band on stage.

Needing some air, he heads towards the bar for a drink. He tips the bartender and downs a few shots before he notices something moving out the corner of his eye. The music was too loud, but he heard a distinct female voice ask, "Is this seat taken?"

Arthur gestured to the empty seat next to him and said, "No, go right ahead." He turned around to see the face of the person, recognition hit, this was the same girl who asked him a question in that Economics class. Even though she was dressed up in some tight leather pants and a form fitting top that looked breathtakingly sexy, it didn't hide the fact that he still said some pretty things in front of her.

She didn't seem to recognize him though when she said thank you and sat down. There was no way Arthur could turn back around to ignore her the rest of the time she sat next to him. He wanted to roll over and die. Karma was a bitch sometimes.

Meanwhile, in a private room off the club, the raven haired and pale Morgana is making an exchange with someone covered in shadow. She never knew his name, but she gave him the money whereas this qualified in giving a small bag of substance. Her movement was swift and sure; it didn't take long for her to tear open the seal and take the contents into her system.

The effects were instant. Her eyes were seeing Technicolor from the hazy atmosphere. She moved to put the rest of the mushrooms in her purse as she went back into the main room with the dance floor. Bumping into a drunkard on her way, she grumbled at him and moved forwards. Her energy was high when she finally found herself on the dance floor.

Bouncing up and down, pumping her fists in the air to the music, Morgana head banged with the rest of the fans of Merlin's band. In the middle of one of the riffs, she grinded against the male rocking out next to her; more or less, she was experiencing a bigger thrill from the shrooms than the crotch grind.

Merlin was finishing up a song when Morgana looked over to the bar. She was stunned to see Arthur sitting there talking to Gwen. He looked happier than she had ever seen him. Being friends from childhood, she had a special affection for him. It was more of a brother sister affection. Two only children of parents who are big into politics, it was only right that they would be best friends. Her father still hadn't forgiven her for running off with that chav when she was 17.

Morgana needed a drink after all that head banging. Walking over to the bar opposite from where Arthur and Gwen were schmoozing with each other, she placed an order and sat down to watch the band get ready for the second set. Her eyes rested on the drummer who sat down behind his drum set.

Handsome blue eyes underneath dark blonde curls, Morgana vowed to have him all to herself tonight.

Gwen did turn towards Arthur after giving her drink order to the bartender. She raised her eyebrow at him because she figured out he must have been staring. "Can I help you?" She asked, "I don't appreciate getting ogled."

"If you wanted us to focus on your words, you wouldn't need such form fitting tops," Arthur joked, as he decided to tease her instead of ridicule.

It may have been slightly insulting to Gwen on some levels that this perfect stranger would choose to be so vulgar. She wasn't going to let him get the better of her, so she asked, "Do I know you? Your face looks familiar to me."

Smiling, Arthur answered, "I must have one of those faces. Do you think you have seen me around Uni somewhere? In class perhaps?"

Curious, Gwen took a closer look at the man's face. The strobe lighting on the dance floor was bouncing off his features and giving his face a more glowy appearance. As if reading her thoughts, the man's face reflected in the mirror opposite them, and she saw the face in the more natural light. She gasped, "Tory boy?"

Giving a salute, Arthur added, "I don't know how Tory I am, but I appreciate the sentiment. I feel like a native again."

"Why are you here anyway?"

"My intelligence training in the American military and my ties to the homeland made me a prime employee for MI-6."

Gwen eyed Arthur, "You're bullshitting me. What are you really up to?"

His response was only a wink and a wouldn't you like to know. Arthur bought another round for himself and ordered another drink for her. The conversation went quickly from politics to how they found themselves here. Upon admitting that he had only got into the country a few days ago and only knew a few people, Gwen smiled at him that she understood him perfectly. To be able to have a conversation with someone who isn't exactly like her, it was nice to be able to talk to him like an equal.

As they chatted it up by the bar, they didn't notice that Merlin's band was finishing up their second set with the crowd winding down and less noise coming from the stage. Gwen's friend Morgana came up and told her that she needs to find someone else to take her home tonight.

Morgana was more than a little drunk when she slurred at Arthur. "Oh hello, Arrrthurrr, it's good to see you again, old friend."

Arthur nodded at Morgana when he said, "It looks like you hit the shot glass a little too hard tonight. Mind I ask how you are going to get home yourself?"

Without saying anything, Morgana pointed over to the drummer in the band who stood up to stretch his legs. Arthur grinned as he recognized the guy to which the finger was directed. He had only met him early in the evening when he picked up Merlin and himself, for reasons unknown, Merlin didn't drive anyway. It was no surprise that Morgana would go after the most unattainable thing in the room. Spending only a short car ride's time with the fellow, he knew that his oldest friend would have a run for her money with that one.

She wasn't even waiting for a response from Gwen before she was off again. Gwen stared at Morgana's retreating with an open mouth. She asked, rhetorically, "How does she expect me to walk 20 blocks by myself in the middle of the night? I only came here because she begged me."

"I could be your bodyguard on your journey," Arthur offered, as an afterthought, he added, "or I could pay for you to hitch a ride in a taxi?"

Looking at Arthur with appreciation, she replied, "You were already kind of enough to buy me drinks. I couldn't possibly take your money for cab fare."

"You already want to take my money for the poor who aren't even enjoying themselves here. The least I could do is offer it willingly, I insist."

Gwen giggled. He was using her political ideology against her, how clever. Did he go to charm school for that or did he come by it naturally?

"I don't know what you mean, but I appreciate the compliment all the same," Arthur said, "you really are a delight, Gwen."

She must have said that last part out loud because how could he have known that she was complimenting him. She smiled all the same when she said, "Thank you, Mr. Pendragon."

Arthur held up his hands in protest. "Please, call me Arthur," he said as he opened the door to the cab he hailed for her.

A blush creeped out onto her cheeks, it was not unusual for other people to feel drawn towards another for personal gain, but she wasn't most people. She had a fluttery feeling in her stomach when she forthrightly said, "and you can call me Guinevere. That's my full first name."

Arthur smiled, grabbed her hand and kissed the palm of it gingerly. "I bid you, good night, Guinevere. Pleasant dreams."

Speechless, Gwen murmured, "Sweet dreams," as she promptly entered the cab, without thinking she pulled out one of her business card and handed it to him.

The cab drove off with Arthur staring after it, a smirk on his face.

Morgana leaned against the door frame of the drummer's dressing room. She could quite easily charm the guy back stage with her flirtatious nature. He was putty in her hands when he waved her through without a pass. This was going to be too easy, she thought.

From the moment the light hit him on the stage, she wanted him. His tall, lanky body behind the drum set. There was no way she was going to let this opportunity get away from her. She wasn't even going to let her confrontation with Arthur, her once best friend, give her bad luck.

She knew she shouldn't be thinking like that but where ever Arthur went bad luck was sure to follow. It was weird because he was almost cursed that way. The door she was next to started to open, Morgana broke out of her own thoughts and struck a seductive pose against the frame waiting for the man inside to fall under her spell like so many before him.

Walking out of the club's dressing room backstage, Leon ran into Morgana as he was leaving. She looked up at him with very beautiful blue eyes. If he wasn't married, he would have been only too happy to let her have a way with him. A people pleaser he couldn't help but appreciate beauty in all its forms. Of course, the perfume she wore was a little too strong. He should let her down gently.

"Pardon me, miss. I was just leaving. Have to get home you know, I have an early day tomorrow." Leon stretched his arms to show he needed to get home.

Unfortunately, Morgana wasn't listening. She had placed one of her hands on his chest and another on his arm, the grip on his arm was beyond sensual.

Leon almost lost focus until he felt her lips on his, and she was pressing her body firmly to him. Instinctively, he pushed her away much to her shock, apologized, and promptly ran from the club all the way home. Morgana had never felt more dejected than now.

Darkness was heavy over the streets as Morgana walked home, it was peaceful at night but slightly unnerving as well. The only light came from the well proportioned street lights over head.

It was a clear night. She would have been more than happy to see the stars if she was at her home out in the countryside. They were very beautiful out there.

Even though she was walking alone, she didn't feel scared in the slightest. Wooded areas were darker than the darkest alleys of a city. She was completely unaware when someone came up from behind her and dragged her into one of the alleys perpendicular to the street she was on.

A hand covered her mouth and a gun aimed into the small of her back shocked, a man's voice whispered gruffly, "Don't make any sudden movements for the mace or you will be confined to a wheelchair for the rest your life." The gun bore into Morgana's back, she was afraid to struggle for fear that her attacker would cripple her.

The alley itself led into a smaller alcove, the man dragged her into this small place, turned her around, and hitched up her skirt. She couldn't really see his face, but the dark clothing he wore highlighted his shoulders. They weren't broad by truly masculine standards, but they were sturdy enough to keep her in place when she tried to struggle out of his control.

Unfortunately, this angered the man. He started handling her roughly as he slid her skirt up further and undid his pants. Horrorstruck, Morgana turned her head away from what was happening.

He forced her down to the dirt ground of the alleyway. Plunging himself in and out of her roughly, there were tears streaming down Morgana's face. This was not the way her night was supposed to go, she thought to herself. Rough words were coming out of the man's mouth. She wished the pain would go away.

When he finished her off, he pulled out, redid his zipper, and kissed her on the lips. "You got what you deserved, you terrible wretch."

After he left, Morgana laid in the alley for what felt like an hour. She was ready to be swallowed up and die right now.

Running home as fast as he could, Leon was surprised to see his wife still up. He came through the door, and she ran over to him for a hug and a kiss. He knew he had to tell Elaine eventually. His wife was a proud woman who got jealous very easily.

"I'm sorry I'm late, darling," Leon started. He was interrupted when Elaine started smelling his clothes. She must have smelled the cheap perfume from that girl who cornered him.

"Do I smell perfume?"

"I can explain."

Elaine licked Leon's lips to see if there was any lipstick smears. She tasted cherry lip gloss, pursing her lips, she looked inquisitive at Leon. "Have you been cheating on me? I taste lip gloss on your lips."

He knew he couldn't hide anything from Elaine. She was like a bloodhound when it came to her knowledge of his whereabouts. It was almost like she had been there but not really. Coming clean was the only way to say he was sorry to have not fought off the girls harder, he needed that extra ounce of willpower to be able to face his lion of a wife in her moments of great duress.

As much as he wanted to tell her the truth, he was not prepared to do it at this time. She was supposed to be asleep. It was closer to 2 o'clock in the morning. He was not thinking clearly when he high tailed it out of the house and ran away.

Elaine trailed him and shouted at the front gate of their house before he was out of earshot.

"YOU ARE NOT WELCOME IN THIS HOUSE, YOU LYING BASTARD!"

A tear stung Leon's eye as he realized what he did. He was going to turn around and head back home, but Elaine had already went back inside their house and slammed the door.

"Leon, you idiot, go back there. You can do this. Explain to your wife that it wasn't your fault." Unfortunately, his legs turned him around again, and he found himself in the drug store buying chips, salsa, and 6-pack of beer. "You are a bastard idiot," Leon thought to himself as he downed the beer he'd purchased outside the park.

The next day, the boys were nursing hangovers back in Merlin's flat. Merlin was especially bad. His head was still swimming even after sleeping through the morning. It was time for his never fail hangover cure.

He looked around his small kitchen to see Arthur sitting at the counter window drinking a glass of orange juice. The blender Merlin started mixing in his cure startled Arthur out of his reverie. Merlin talked over the noise, "Good morning, you look like hell. Do you want some of my remedy?" He pointed to the green looking concoction whirring around in the blender.

Arthur looked up and stared blankly at the blender. The green stuff inside did not look appealing to him, he shook his head and finished off his orange juice. His head was feeling a little better. How much he drank last night, he seemed to have severely miscalculated his tolerance level. You can usually tell when you've had too much and stop before you give yourself a hangover the next day.

Seriously, it must have been really hot in that club last night because he never drank more than he could wake up the next morning at a decent time. He remembered ordering more drinks with this girl, whose brown eyes had captivated him. Those same eyes were framed with dark curly hair, the curls looked soft and inviting. She had glowed in the backlight of the darkened room.

"Are you okay, mate?" Merlin interrupted, "Earth to Arthur." Waving a hand in front of Arthur's face, it was very distracting.

"Oh," Arthur said, coming back to reality, "I'm sorry. Been thinking too much."

Merlin laughed as he poured himself a glass of the green liquid; drinking, he made a face and held his nose to down the drink in one gulp.

Before Arthur could comment on the liquid cure, the lock was being opened. He turned to see Leon, the drummer from last night, coming in carrying a bag and something else wrapped in a blanket. Curiously, he was interested in the slight movement from the blanket.

"Rough night last night, eh, Leon," Arthur greeted warmly. "What's with the blanket?"

Leon walked in and set the bag down on the counter. He looked at the blanket and back up to say, "I found her resting just outside the building with the exact number of this particular flat."

Concerned, Arthur went to look at the thing still cradled in Leon's arm. Sure enough it was a baby girl, her eyes were a bright blue with light wisps of hair already forming on her head. Without thinking, he asked, "Do you know who she belongs to?"

Leon shrugged. Meanwhile, in order for Arthur to get a closer look at the child's face, he adjusted the blanket to better allow the little girl to breathe and see the world around her. His fingertip brushed against the edge of a piece of paper bundled in the inside of the blanket.

Curiously, he pulled the note paper out of the blanket, unfolding it gently as he took the child from Leon's arms. The only words that were written on the page said, "Merlin, It is time for you to take responsibility. I'm done playing games." It was left unsigned. Arthur looked over at Merlin, who wasn't paying attention to the blanket, had gone for the bag that Leon had sat down on the counter.

He said nonchalantly, "You have a fight with Elaine again, buddy. I see you brought tortilla chips and salsa dip half eaten already with a third of a pack of Bud leftover." Merlin didn't even notice the disparaging look Arthur was giving him. "What did you do this time?"

With a defeated tone, Leon hung his head in shame when he replied, "It wasn't my fault this time. Last night another girl came onto me, I couldn't stop her from landing a kiss on me."

Merlin laughed. He knew only too well what Elaine was like when she got angry. Unfortunately, she would have to deal with the many fan girls Leon would obviously get when their band became international.

"You are the drummer of an unbelievably awesome band soon to be recognized. There are going to be even more girls than the crazy random ones now who throw themselves at you." Merlin's eyebrows wiggled suggestively.

Not wanting to take any more berating, Leon made a fist gesture with his hand at Merlin much to the chagrin of Arthur witnessing the display. He cut in, "As much as it would pain me to try to stop your fight in the middle, I would like to call your attention to this note I found covered inside the blanket closest to the baby," turning to Merlin, he asked, "do you have any idea what this means?"

Handing the note over to Merlin who silently read it over, his face became pale as he continued to stare at it. He didn't notice when Leon took the note from his hands and read it for himself. A moment of silence fell over the room.

Leon broke the silence. "It is unsigned. How do we know who wrote it?"

"That's why I brought it to Merlin's attention. He would know if there was ever a girl walking around carrying his child." Arthur answered forthrightly.

Merlin was still silent. Words were not forming in his mouth. His mind was muttering incoherencies that would make Queen Elizabeth II blush.

Finally, he squeaked out, "I have no idea who it could be. I have never been with a girl longer than a month."

"There was that one girl," Leon started but Merlin automatically held up his hand in a don't tell or else movement. Leon shushed up immediately.

This made Arthur curious, Merlin had a mystery girl who could be the baby mama. Before he could open his mouth to tease him, Merlin countered with a question for Arthur.

"I saw you chatting up a vixen over at the bar during one of my breaks between sessions. Why don't you tell us about her?"

Arthur didn't like this sudden change of subject, but he couldn't shake it because Leon asked this, too. Why couldn't he go back to asking the questions?

Merlin placed his hands on the counter and tapped his fingers against them, waiting for Arthur to answer.

"You can't change the subject like that, Merlin. A lost child is more important than my love life."

"All in due course, I want to know, did you get lucky last night? Did you score?"

One eyebrow shot up with disgust, he knew Merlin was prone to avoiding discussing issues in his own home life, but he really didn't need to be so rude about other people's private lives.

"That's for me to know, and you to never find out."

Merlin smiled, "She taken?"

"No," Arthur answered, "I did get her number though."

Clapping Arthur on the back, Leon shook him and shouted, "Congratulations. Are you going to call her?"

"I haven't really decided yet."

To mock Arthur, Merlin brought up his arms, flapped them close to his armpits, and pretended to make chicken noises at him. Arthur was not amused, but Leon joined in the mocking "Call her" following by a chicken caw. Joining in the chant, Merlin mimicked Leon's "Call her" with a feeble attempt at making an effect caw afterwards.

He rolled his eyes and looked straight at Merlin when he said, "If I do this, you will promise me that you will tell me how this little girl came to being."

Merlin held up his right hand, pledging Scout's Honor.

Even though, he was not entirely convinced of Merlin's sincerity. He was tired of the mocking chicken caws and hoopla that followed. Wait a minute, there was an unwritten rule that said if you don't want to appear desperate, not to call a girl's number until two days after you get it. He was off the hook for now.

"I can't call her now. It will violate the dude code of leaving the girl wanting more agreement. You still owe an explanation."

Sticking up his pointer finger and waggling back and forth, Merlin shook his head. "The agreement was that as soon as you call, I'll tell you what I know and not before."

Before Merlin finished, the baby started crying. Leon asked, "Do you smell something?" His nose wrinkled in disgust.

"It's probably you. Forgot to shower at home, I see." Merlin mocked Leon again.

Leon hung his head and looked at Merlin with a don't start with me face. "That's not me."

Having started to smell something funny as well, Arthur looked down at the baby still in his arms. She was crying and had this squished look to her face. He smelled her and deduced that her diaper needed changing.

"Do either one of you have extra diapers?"

"Do I look like my 90 year old grandmother?"

Ignoring Merlin's sarcasm, Arthur looked over to Leon and asked, "You married?"

Leon nodded.

"Can you borrow some nappies from your wife? I'll pay her back."

"You will have to come with me. My place is down the street, and my wife is probably still mad at me for the incident."

Arthur shifted the baby to one arm and gestured with his free hand, saying, "You can talk about it later. We have a baby's nappy to take care of first." He turned to Merlin and asked, "Coming, Merlin. This is your child after all."

"No, I think I'll start my next round of drinking at this point."

"NOW, MERLIN!"

The authoritative tone of Arthur's voice caused Merlin to jump. Without much further hassle, the three young men and the little girl still cradle in Arthur's arm went out into the street, waiting for Merlin to lock his apartments up. They made their way down the street towards Leon's house.

With a dull throbbing ache in her head, Gwen woke from a dreamless sleep. She must be hung over. The flat feeling you get laying down like you are being crushed by a giant boulder. Her muscles ached as she wondered what else she did besides drink last night. She didn't go home with anyone. The man she was talking to bought her a cab which was kind of him. His blue eyes were dreamy, and he had nice blonde hair.

Normally blondes weren't of much interest to her, it surprised her that despite his personal opinion she felt strong within him. It was the sense of manliness about him that struck her. Most males her age didn't have that particular trait, he may have been nervous but the confidence he pretended to have was charming. The society papers would have a field day if there were cameras at the event. A half American, British aristocrat entrepreneur seen socializing with a sister from the Borough, it would be quite a scandalous affair.

She got out of bed to shower and dress for the day. Checking the time, she did a double take when she realized it was already noon. There was no reason to panic though, she remembered that it was Saturday. Unfortunately, she also had to work tonight at that fancy restaurant she was hired at for extra work. The pay was crap, but it gave Gwen more money along with the job she did with the coffee shop on campus during the week.

In the kitchen, she literally jumped when she saw Morgana sitting on her counter eating a carton of Ben & Jerry's. Morgana usually tried to wake her up when she came over to chat; however, this did not look like a good time to chat.

Gwen went over to comfort her friend who jumped herself when she was touched. It was unusual to see Morgana looking scared. Something was off.

"What's wrong? Is there anything I can do to help?" Gwen's voice showed concern and angst over her friend's distress.

Morgana had been crying prior to Gwen's arrival in the kitchen, and the questions posed to her brought on a new wave of emotions that overcame her. She fell into Gwen's arms and hugged her closely. Gwen held and rocked Morgana as she whispered soothing words to her.

Calming down, Morgana still remained in Gwen's arms when she answered, "I'm a terrible, wicked girl." She moaned as a fresh strain of tears falling down her face.

To stifle the tears, Gwen shushed her, petting her friend's hair as her forehead rested on Gwen's shoulder. She wasn't sure if she would get a response, but she asked anyway. "You aren't terrible, Morgs. Did something happen last night?"

As she nodded assent, Gwen waited for Morgana to explain. She whispered into her friend's shoulder, "I was attacked by an armed gunman."

Shockwaves ripped through Gwen's nervous system, her friend was attacked and no one was there to save her. Afraid to ask, Gwen had to know however. "Did he rape you?"

Too afraid to say so, Morgana nodded into Gwen's shoulder again. Anger bubbled up inside Gwen, she had to do something.

"Have you been to the clinic yet?"

Shaking her head no, Morgana whispered, "I've been too afraid to talk to anyone."

"That's no excuse. We have to get you to the clinic, stat, and report this crime to the authorities," Gwen said, her tone dry, "do you have an adequate description of the man? It would make the search for the prick so much easier."

Morgana nodded. Without a second thought, Gwen grabbed her coat, purse and car keys. She pushed her friend out the door, pulling it behind herself and locking the door.

Both girls remained silent on the way to the clinic.

Merlin and Arthur were at the door to Leon's house when they noticed that Leon was dragging his feet by the fence post. Arthur cocked his head and asked, "This is your home. Aren't you going to invite us in?"

Both of them noticed the slight grimace Leon made as he entered his front yard and stood on the stoop. His hand was shaking as he unlocked the door with his house key.

Upon entering the foyer, the child automatically started crying again. Arthur had been relieved when she hadn't cried on the walk over, mostly because she had been sucking on his finger the whole time. It was a good thing she didn't have teeth yet.

The crying brought Elaine out of her son's room after she set him down for a nap. If there were intruders in her house, she was not going to let them have her son. Her eyes narrowed when she found Leon in the living room with Merlin and someone else.

"What are you doing here?" She asked coldly.

After remaining silent long enough, Merlin answered for Leon, "It's good to see you, too, Elaine. How's the kid? I hear he's a strapper like the old man." He clapped Leon on the back who was increasingly embarrassed to be here.

"Shut up, Merlin." Arthur said before Elaine could.

Elaine smiled at Arthur. "Thank you, he really is a wind bag, isn't he?" Holding out her hand, she added, "I'm sorry. I don't believe we've met. I'm Elaine. You are?" Merlin looked a little hurt by the wind bag comment but shrugged it off.

Sticking out a free hand, Arthur shook Elaine's. "I'm Arthur, old friend of Merlin's, still getting to know Leon here."

"He can be charming when he can be," Elaine replied drily, talking about Leon. She pointed at the bundle in Arthur's arms. "Is she yours?"

Looking down and back, Arthur shook his head, "No, this here is Merlin's. He refuses to tell me who the baby mama is until I call the girl back from last night."

Elaine went over to slap Merlin upside the head.

Rubbing it sarcastically, Merlin whimpered, "What was that for?"

"You know perfectly well what I mean," Elaine looked fired up again. Her nose also smelled something. "What is that smell?"

"Baby girl's nappy needs changing." Arthur answered.

Elaine gasped and took the baby off Arthur's hands to the next room. The other two making no move to follow her, Arthur found Elaine taking the used nappy off the little girl and replaced it with a fresh one. She even added some baby powder to keep the skin from chaffing after who knew how long the boys left the baby hanging there without a proper change.

"Sorry, I don't know much about babies. I could have made a nappy out of bath towel, but Merlin's towels aren't exactly clean." Arthur bowed his head in remorse.

The fierce look on Elaine's face had softened when she smiled again at Arthur. "I know what you mean. I have to make a trip over there once a week to clean everything. What's her name?"

"If you are referring to the baby mama, I told you I don't know. If you want to know this little girl's name, I can't make that call. She's not my kid."

"Fair enough. Maybe this could actually give Merlin more reason to become responsible, I never understood his flagrant desire to shirk life like he has."

"We really can't tell how this will affect Merlin. His mood is very nonchalant towards her."

Elaine nodded, "Yes, but I know when I was pregnant with my son. I couldn't get a word out of Leon about discussing nursery and where the kid would go to school." Upon talking about past conversations with her husband, a catch formed in Elaine's throat. She swallowed it down.

Noticing everything, Arthur asked, "I don't mean to pry, but is there something going on between you two? Leon seemed rather reluctant to come here with us."

Clearing her throat, Elaine said, "Yes, there was something last night. I think he wants to talk to me, but I fear he could also be ready to run away again."

"You are a strong, impassioned woman while Leon is rather meek but no less courageous. I have a feeling that if there is something to be said. You and he will work it out eventually."

"Goodness, I hope so. I don't know what I would do without him."

Arthur smiled and reached out to take the baby girl back from Elaine. Handing her over willingly, Elaine left the room. Arthur looked down at the little one in his arms, and he smiled. If this little girl could make a responsible adult out of Merlin, then she was a-okay in his book. He left the room after that.

Upon walking into the living room with the baby, Arthur heard the voices of BBC News coming out of the telly. Leon's and Merlin's eyes were glued as the breaking news shocked them.

"We are having continuing reports of women all over the urban centers turning up beaten, raped, and or murdered shortly thereafter. Police have been conducting investigations into the cases that have already been presented. If any citizen has information, they should not be afraid to call. Their information is vital, and they do not need your name. Call the number at the bottom of your screens right now."

Leon muted the news when Elaine walked in and gasped.

"How terrifying for those girls and their families of the victims," Elaine crossed herself, "I hope the police find and arrest the person or persons responsible."

Nodding, Leon went over to hug his wife. "I'm sorry I ran out last night. I didn't kiss anyone on purpose. I ran before she got beyond kissing."

As she was on the verge of tears with the news, Leon's story made her laugh. She knew she could count on him to get out of a tight spot.

Arthur decided to hand the baby over to Merlin now that she was changed. "Here. Like the note said, she's your responsibility. You have to take her."

Merlin looked up from the telly, down at the baby, and back to Elaine, Leon, and Arthur all staring at him. "What do I do with her?" Merlin asked, sounding confused. You guys are so much better than me.

All three of the other adults laughed at Merlin as he held the child awkwardly in his arms. The baby must have thought this was a game because she started laughing at Merlin, too. Her coos were forming little bubbles around her mouth.

"It would be good to name her. Don't you think?"

Merlin took time to study each one of his friends' faces. They were serious this time. He was cooked. Looking at the baby girl in his arms, the only name he could think of to say was.

"Caroline. I'll call her Caroline."

Gwen had been at the clinic a long time with Morgana. They had taken their sweet time getting back to her with the rape kit.

When Morgana was back getting taken care of, the police came by and were trying to ask Gwen questions as if she herself was the one experiencing such trauma. She would have gladly came forward to the cameras to denounce the rapist who hurt her best friend, but this was not her story to tell. Morgana will tell the story when she gets back. She knows exactly what happens.

Much to the police and presses' distaste, they waited for Morgana. It must have been a disappointment to them that they couldn't use special emphases on race in order to get their point across. If Gwen ever went through what Morgana did, she would probably talk about it then, but she hoped never to have to go through this again or with herself, her heart couldn't take seeing her friend suffer.

She wished that the news media wouldn't report on Morgana afterward.

A call was received on Arthur's emergency line, he excused himself from the presence of the others to take it. HQ was asking for him to return to the base immediately, he was to be briefed about a special mission assigned to him.

Being as vague as possible, he excused himself, said good bye to Elaine, and wished Merlin luck getting to know Caroline. He left just when Gwen's face appeared on the news.

The reporter had asked for a statement, Gwen's response was:

"My friend is experiencing trauma right now. She will talk to you when she is ready."

Returning her attention to the telly, Elaine nodded her head in agreement, "I feel sorry for the friends and family of the victims. I would hate to get lampooned alive by the media." She was sitting down next to Leon who put his arm around her.

"If you were ever a victim of an attack, I would surely have my revenge on your attacker."

Elaine kissed her loving husband lightly on the lips. "You are too good sometimes."

Leon went to turn off the television and pulled his wife up along with him. He whispered to her, "How about we take this into our bedroom? I'm feeling very protective right now."

Giggling, Elaine took her husband by the hand as she led him into their bedroom and closed the door.

Still sitting on the couch with baby Caroline, Merlin looked into the direction where Elaine and Leon went. He was suddenly embarrassed by being left alone in the living room of his dear friend's house with a baby he didn't even know about until today.

Looking down at the baby, Caroline stared up at him with her big blue eyes, he asked her rhetorically, "What do we do now?"

As if in answer to his question, Caroline reached up her little arm and grabbed his nose. He sighed and got up to leave the already healed love nest. Shifting the baby from laying in his arms to stand up position over his shoulder, he left the house quietly.

It was still early enough that the shops would be open where he could buy stuff to take care of his baby. His baby! That was something he never thought would occur for another couple of years yet, there was something oddly familiar about Caroline's eyes. It couldn't be though.

His arrival at HQ was to no fanfare. Of course, it wouldn't be, Arthur thought. He was a secret agent. James Bond's blonder cousin is more like it. If Bond had been real of course, Arthur would want to be partnered with him.

Much like the spy movies, you don't get a partner when you are a spy. You have associates, and then you have enemies. A trained assassin is what you are of threats to your charges. Most of the recruitment ends up coming directly from ex-military veterans.

He followed the maze down to where the secure bunker was.

Boredom had already began to sink in when he hadn't been two days in the city, and he had already given the thumbed nose sign of distaste at the place. It hadn't been like when he was with family and friends back at his uncle's house in Jacksonville.

The surroundings were beautiful, but he was given a lot of cold greetings when he talked. It must have been his adopted American accent that gave him away. He never understood why his father sent him away in the first place. It wasn't like he was going to be any more danger. His mother's killer was behind bars, and there has been no sign of release for the bastard in the near future. It was a life sentence if he recalled.

"I'm glad you finally made it, Agent R."

Startled, Arthur stood straight and tall awaiting orders, he was ready. His boss smiled. She came out of the shadows to look at him properly.

Arthur looked taken aback. He had no idea how tiny this woman was from the tone of her voice. It was an intimidating voice you would not wish to cross even more than a nesting mother, equally terrifying in her own right .

"We have gotten increasing reports of threats on the life of political candidate, David Cameron. Since none of our other more experienced agents are available right now, we have to rely on your previous military engagement experience in Afghanistan to help us out."

Blinking, Arthur replied, "I'm honored that you thought of me at all."

"I apologize for being not getting back to you sooner. It has been a hectic April. Our training agents have been pulled away to investigate a bizarre crime wave of rape victims in downtown London."

"I heard about that."

The master agent looked at Arthur closely before she replied, "I see. You are welcome to keep your eyes and ears open for information like anyone else, but the nabbing is to be done by trained professionals. You understand rookie?"

Arthur nodded, slowly. He understood perfectly, but he wasn't going to go along with it if he had the choice. That's what the problem was with bureaucracies and government, they always stood in the way of real justice. "Yes ma'am."

"You will be briefed by a junior agent on your assignment," the master excused herself, "if you will make your way down to holding, he will give you all the information you'll need to start out."

Without opening his mouth, Arthur left the master's presence to get his information. This place was a little too hush hush about something that he probably shouldn't be bothered with, but he was nonetheless.

Getting his assignment folder, the complacent look on the man's face was giving Arthur even more reason to wonder what was really going on around here. Protecting a candidate, it wasn't exactly James Bond, double zero, good here. Maybe if he did well with this assignment, they would give him something way better from the treat bag.

Here's to hoping. His life was not going to be the same though.

Merlin arrived home with many bags under his arms and push stroller for Caroline, to which he was grateful to the shop girl who barked at the other shop owners to let the man get supplies for his daughter. He wasn't even sure what all his daughter needed to be honest. She looked really small and helpless, and she had no teeth.

The same shop girl gave him a list of the stuff he'd need. It was lucky he got paid upfront for the gig last night because the total cost of everything took half of his share of the earnings. He knew that phrase 'Learn to suffer for your art' but it is entirely different matter when you have to think about a baby.

He was used to skipping a meal or two a week in order to pay his bills on time. Juggling a child that needed regular feeding, he wondered if maybe this would be the end of his fantastic credit rating. He pulled Caroline out of her new stroller and he asked, raising her up to eye level to look at her, "What am I to do with you? I can barely keep myself above water."

Caroline responded with a gurgled a response and touched his nose. Merlin smiled, "Okay then, are you hungry? Let's eat."

They went on into the kitchen.

As if being interviewed by television reporters was mortifying enough, Gwen found herself unnerved by all the looks she was getting at the pub where she works. She had dropped Morgana off at her place after she was released. Gwen felt it was safer if Morgs stayed with her for a few days, and Morgana luckily agreed. There was no doubt that she was going to be alone for a few hours again tonight, but Gwen assured her that everything was going to be alright.

Of course, the looks were daunting at the pub tonight. Everyone watched the news around here; at least, it wasn't a small village pub. Everyone knew everyone else's business then as if it mattered them whether someone was sleeping around on their wife or the wife ran off with the milkman.

Honestly, it took her mind off things to fill drinks for her customers. Despite the alcohol, she felt like this place was her second home.

Gwen was just finished handing a Miller Lite to a light weight customer when she spotted Arthur, from last night, who walked in and sat down at one of the bar stools on the end. The main guy behind the bar filled Arthur's drink order, Budweiser. My, that is a manly drink, she thought to herself.

Collecting her courage to go over to say hi again, Gwen put a smile on her face and went to greet her newest patron. "It's nice to see you again, Arthur. Fancy meeting you here."

Arthur turned around upon hearing his name and almost choked on the beer that he had started swallowing. He cleared his throat, "You surprised me, Gwen. I was going to wait to call you because I didn't want to appear desperate."

Gwen smiled as she took a relaxed seat next to him on the empty bar stool. "It's quieter here than last night."

"Yep, it is nice to be able to enjoy my beer in peace for a change. I had a terrible hangover when I woke up."

Gwen's face looked forlorn when she said, "I'm sorry. I hope you were okay afterwards. You did take quite a bit of shots last night."

"Me? Of course, I'm okay. It was the wave of loud head banger music that got my nerves fried."

"Do you always have to sound so tough?" Gwen smiled, knowingly, "why can't you admit that you were completely and utterly smashed out of no one's fault but your own."

Arthur gasped, "Guin-ev-ere! I should have known you would be a ball buster. Thank you for deflating my ego. Leave me to my beer please." He feigned mock hurt and turned his attention away from her, smiling slightly.

"I am sorry, but it's your own fault for drinking too much."

"Fine. So it is, I am a bad boy. I need to be spanked." He winked at Gwen, who blushed and giggled. "She laughs. I am the man."

She shakes her head and loose curls escaped from her hair clip, still smiling at Arthur being a total dork. "You are such a dork sometimes."

"Ah ha, but you must admit, you find me intriguing, yes?"

"In a way…"

"Ouch."

"I'm so sorry to offend you."

Arthur laughed heartily, "It's fun messing with you, Gwen. You always take things so seriously."

"I've had a pretty serious day. I'm still a little on edge."

"You've been thinking about me naked, haven't you? Don't worry, Gwen, it's serious business down there." He nudged Gwen in the ribs and a curious wink at the nether regions of his physique.

"Maybe a little but I've been distracted by my friend's drama," Gwen started.

"YES! Victory is mine!"

"Anyways, Morgana was raped last night by one of those psychos loose in the city."

For only the second time that night, Arthur choked on his beer. He was getting angry, and he was drinking. Two things that if combined led you to disaster. "Did she get a good look at him?"

Sadly, Gwen shook her head, "She said she was facing him, but it was too dark to make an accurate description of his overall appearance. His face was covered perfectly from view," she shivered with the recall, "it makes me sick to think that this could happen someone close to me."

Unfortunately, Arthur knew nothing of the sickness. It only made him angry. Shit like this happened all the time around him, it couldn't be helped. There were no guardian angels to save his raw hide from the slaughterhouses when they called. His life was in his own hands.

He debated whether he should tell Gwen about his mission, but he decided that it was best not to upset her with the details.

The bartender had turned the telly on to tune into the first ever televised debate in British politics. Everyone sitting around the tables in the dining area turned to stare at the television. There were many heckles and boos from the habitants of the barstools on the opposite side of Arthur and in the peanut gallery when David Cameron had his turn to speak.

Throughout the whole debate, Arthur felt like the Liberal Democrat, Nicholas Clegg, was no better than the socialist American President Barack Obama. His words were fluid, and anyone not trained in the art of bullshit detecting would have thought they were Gods walking among mere mortals, but the sickly sweet words sounded revolting to his well trained ears. He remembered the interrogations he had to be a part of in Afghanistan. Terrorists will try to get out of anything if he means that the American Left will show mercy on them.

I guess what they say is true then. A liberal is a liberal is a labour. It's easy to see why someone would want to have Cameron assassinated. New Labour had been the government of Britain and the rest of the UK for 12 years, and they were tired of being lied to by Gordon Brown.

Maybe in his idealist mind, he thought that maybe England could return to its former glory and Thatcher's second term as Prime Minster. Be the parent that the United States needs right now, it has lost its way home. From the nation that gave themselves the Magna Carta, it does not have much hope of retaining its former glory if no one works to reclaim it.

"Hey, are you okay?" Gwen asked Arthur, patting his shoulder gently, "you've been staring off into space."

Bringing himself back to reality, Arthur shook himself, turned to Gwen and asked, "Let me ask you something and be honest, who are you more likely to vote for out of those candidates?"

Gwen was taken aback. She didn't think half Americans would be interested in politics. "Honestly, I would have to say Nick Clegg."

"Is there any particular reason why?"

Again, Gwen had to think for a second. She answered simply, "Gordon Brown screwed us all, and we can't trust Tories to save us."

It is a sad day indeed when a brilliant mind known as Gwen could come across as petty in regards to politics.

"But what if I'm a Tory and you are in trouble, do you not think I would save you?" Arthur decided a different approach to the subject.

"You're different than a Tory though."

"How so? I believe in smaller government and lower taxes."

Gwen smiled when said, "You have your heart to guide you between right and wrong."

Even though he could have pursued this further, Arthur was interrupted when a loud buzzing was vibrating within Gwen's apron pocket. She took out her phone, flipped it open, and then closed it again. Horror stricken, she put the phone back in her pocket. She turned to Arthur and said, "I'm sorry. I have to get back to work."

Arthur brought his hand out to stop Gwen from going. He saw that look she gave her phone. It troubled him because even though they hadn't known each other that long, he still felt like they had established a connect that is far greater than years. "What's wrong? I've seen that look many times on various people. Something's troubling you, Gwen," he pulled her closer to sit down next to him again.

Unfortunately, she refused to sit down again. It was enough that she had to get back to work or else her boss would be throwing a hissy all over the place. Arthur covertly snuck the phone out of Gwen's pocket without her noticing before letting her go. Her distracted state was very easily manipulated.

He watched her leave as he covered the phone to make sure she didn't see. As soon as she was busy clearing a table, Arthur flipped the phone open to look at the text message Gwen had just received.

Despite feeling slightly guilty for invading her privacy, Arthur felt anger at whoever the sick fuck was that left every single one of these demented messages. The recent one only said, You get what you deserve. No signature or distinguishing marks. You could always trace the cell phone who sent the text in the first place. Of course, that would only work if the creep was either dumb or stupid.

What did this shit for brains mean with Gwen getting what she deserves? Is someone out to hurt her? She doesn't deserve that treatment from anyone. She's too good even if she is slightly devious; of course, that doesn't sound like a bad thing in context.

Scrolling through all her older messages, Arthur found that each one of them is just as twisted as the last. Her inbox was almost full of them. It looks like he might also have to be worried about protecting this girl from a psycho, too. Twice the hero, it has a nice ring to it.

Before he could pull out his own phone to get the tracer numbers from Gwen's phone, Gwen came up from behind Arthur and yanked the phone away from him. "I will take that back. Thank you very much."

"What if you are seriously hurt the next time he texts you? You need someone to trace that call to the receiver," Arthur protested, semi meekly.

"If he does meet me in real life to hurt me, I'll give him a good shot of mace straight in his face." Gwen's expression was adamant, and Arthur knew that it wouldn't be easy to convince this girl that she needed protection from a mad man. Besides, there were other ways to get the tracer numbers and cell records on any phone. He smiled politely and apologized for his rudeness, this time for real, leaving the barkeep a lovely tip.

As he exited the establishment slightly intoxicated, Arthur called his good friend and cousin, Gawain. If anyone could help him out in this situation, it would be him.

Waking up without a hangover, Merlin almost felt normal again. It was weird feeling so light and not like your brain was about to explode within your skull.

The feeling would have been ten times better if he didn't remember that he had a kid sleeping in his house.

Caroline.

She's asleep on the covers beside him. It was one of the things he had forgotten to get when he was at the store. Of course, it seems okay because the baby girl is so peaceful sleeping on her stomach beside him. Her tiny hands curled up into little fists, one up by the pillow with the other down by her side. Merlin felt weird admitting that it was the most adorable thing in the world. This is what fathers are supposed to feel, isn't it? Love and togetherness with their baby, it would be difficult but he was going to go out and find a second job. There was no way he was going to let himself or this child starve if he had anything to say about it.

The phone he set on his bedside table buzzes on top, Merlin picks it up without despite Caroline from her sleep.

"Hello." Merlin initiated, listening to the caller speak, his face paling when the caller finished. This day just went from great to shit, if only he hadn't given up drinking for the child.

He could use a stiff one right about now.

After Elaine had gone to bed, Leon rolled over and tried to sleep. He was knackered after the romp he had with his wife, but he couldn't fall asleep. Something was nagging at him from the back of his mind, he was sure he had forgotten something.

Without disturbing his wife's sleep, he made his way into their kitchen and opened up the fridge. It was stocked from yesterday's trip to the store with the good beer he requested. Thank God for his lovely wife. A beer at, Leon checked the clock, quarter till midnight should allow him to think properly. Either that or make him sleepy, the jury is still out on that.

As the cold liquid slid down his throat, Leon heard a crash. His head turned towards the direction of the alley, ears listening for another clang of what sounded like metal against someone's shoe. No further sound came, it was up to Leon to investigate the disturbance. There could be a creep hanging around outside waiting to get his hands on Elaine. Blood pounding in his ears, Leon nervously went to get a baseball bat from the hall closet.

He gripped the bat so tightly that the knuckles on his left hand were white in the faint light seen coming from the back porch. The street lights were not visible from around the corner of the house. He was slowly approaching the back side where the silhouetted figure was standing on the porch looking to break in through the back door.

Leon wasn't going to stand there and watch some stranger enter his home. He crept up behind his target, and he cocked the bat back in a swinger's stance. Arcing the bat into the middle of the intruder's back, the intruder was slammed directly into the door.

Shock was replaced with anger on the face of the injured, he pulled a knife out of his pocket as he rounded on Leon. Leon was surprised to see the knife wielder still have strength after the blow he suffered in the back.

A struggle ensued between the two men. It caused the two of them to roll directly off the porch and into the yard. Leon avoiding getting stabbed by the man who nicked him when he pulled the knife in the first place; however, the impromptu wrestling match was ended when a second shadow formed and another man appeared. This one, he had a gun and aimed it only to hit just to the side of Leon's head.

"That's enough, Claude," the man's voice spoke, "he came to us however unwillingly. He's going to be of use to our cause since the girl isn't exactly cooperating with us."

Claude took this opportunity to punch Leon hard in the face. As he restrained Leon, he grumbled, "I don't see why I had to do this anyway."

"The boss needs a young person in order for this plan to work," the other voice spoke forcefully, "we are to bring this young man to her immediately." Leon was waking up slightly to hear the voice speak again. It sounded familiar, but he wasn't sure why.

"Really, Jonas, do you have to be such a pushover?"

"Shut the fuck up, Claude. You're an idiot."

"At least I don't have wet dreams about my boss."

"Didn't I tell you to shut the fuck up?" Jonas' voice grew angrier as he spoke, "pick him up and let's get going. This place would have heard the disturbance."

Claude tried to pick up Leon before realizing that he was not nearly as big as the restrained man. He also had to punch him out again to get him to cooperate.

The last thought Leon had before he lost consciousness was that Jonas was not who he had remembered him.

Arthur was parked outside the sidewalk cafe at 9:30AM where he was supposed to meet David Cameron at 10AM. Sitting in an inconspicuous 1980 Mustang he just bought, he was also waiting for his stupid cousin to call him back with the number and/or the person who kept messaging Gwen's phone. Of course, he had to probably wait until later for that information. His cousin was in Eastern US time after all. It didn't make him any less impatient though.

Checking to see if the radio works, Arthur was pleased to see that it was working even if it was absolute shit in terms of a proper sound system, he could trick it out later when he was less busy. Until then, he was stuck listening to the station that it was left one before it went back to the dealer.

A few passersby noticed him sitting in the car watching the cafe, but they didn't go over to question him. They forgot about him soon enough as they went on their merry way to work or even school. Some of the kids were even thinking about throwing eggs at the car until Arthur got out to stand in front of it. His arms were crossed, shoulders square, white tshirt and blue jeans making him look even more ripped and buff than he was. The children were not about to mess with a man who could possibly rearrange a terrorist's face in the matter of seconds if he had the chance.

It was good to know that he still had that look of intimidation. That would come in handle again, he could almost guarantee it.

Twenty minutes later, David Cameron showed up in Arthur's peripheral, and he was quickly assessed from a distant what he was packing in terms of security. For the Tory candidate and the Prime Minister hopeful, he sure had a light guard. It still seems weird that it was Arthur who was assigned to protect him against an assassin. He might as well go to introduce himself.

Approaching the politician's table, Arthur reached out a hand to the man. "It is nice to finally meet you, Mr. Cameron. My name is Arthur Pendragon. I will be looking after the security of your person for the rest of your campaign."

Surprised, David looked at Arthur with wide eyes which turned to amusement, he said, "My, you are young. I wouldn't have thought you would look any younger than 30."

Slightly uncomfortable with the mention of age, Arthur quickly shifted from one subject to the next, "I'll be 25 in six months. Even though I'm only a youth, I have seen much during my tenure in the military. I will make sure you are protected at all times."

David smiled at Arthur warmly. He nodded in understanding. "I hear you on that. Some of my most stoic critics try to tell me that I am too young or have too much of a baby face to be a good Prime Minister," he gestured at Arthur, continuing, "like me, you are the best at what you do. If you don't let anyone get you down, I'll try not to let anyone get me down."

"That sounds like a fair trade," Arthur acknowledged slowly, "I don't think you are a baby face. Maybe you do look young, but it's normal for some adults to look younger than their years."

Cameron laughed and shook Arthur's hand. He had a nice firm hand shake as he gestured to Arthur to sit down at his table to talk shop. Ordering a coffee from the waitress, Arthur sat down and was given the general schedule of appearances Cameron was supposed to be making during the month long campaign cycle.

Worried that he wasn't going to be able to find someone look after Caroline, Merlin called up the next door neighbor's house. He seemed to remember them telling him once upon a time that if he ever needed help with anything that he shouldn't hesitate to call on them. It seemed a lot of hooey at the time, but it just might be the salvation of his life. There was probably no one else he could trust Caroline with than the neighbors.

Frantically searching for the number to no avail, he bundled up Caroline and some bottles and diapers to take next door. He adjusted the baby and the rest of the stuff to free one of his hands to ring the bell.

The door wasn't answered by a 30-to-40 something woman, but it was a little boy no more than 12 years old staring up at him with wide blue eyes. His dark hair, pasty white skin, and freckles made Merlin slightly creeped out which was saying something since the boy was practically his little doppelganger. He answered, "Yes, can I help you?" Even his voice, Merlin's spine had chills running down it. He was having second thoughts about leaving his daughter with this barely teenage boy.

"Um, is your mother or father at home," Merlin asked urgently and panicky.

Shaking his head, the boy droned on, "Mummy went into town to get something from the market. Are you going someplace?"

"I'm sorry to be a bother, but I had something urgent come up and I have to find a sitter at last minute."

"I can look after the child."

"Are you sure?"

"A baby is a big responsibility, I think someone like you should have someone else a little bit older supervising the two of you." Merlin felt like kicking his own ass for saying it, he was giving some brat the same lecture his friend had given him.

The little boy stuck his chin out defiantly. He said, "I may be small for my age, but I know how to look after babies. Mummy lets me look after children at the daycare when I go there to help her work."

"You know how to change diapers and all that?" Merlin asked, skeptically.

As he made a face, the boy replied, "Of course, I do. If you need the baby to be left for a few hours, I can take care of it for you. Mum should be home in that amount of time if I need anything before you get back."

Reluctantly handing Caroline and the diaper bag over to the boy, Merlin cooed at his daughter. "Be good for the babysitter, Carrie. You hear." He pinched her belly lightly. Looking back up at the boy, he asked, "I'm sorry, I forgot to ask your name."

Smiling, the boy answered, "It's Mordred. Your baby is in good hands. Carrie and I will have so much fun."

Merlin smiled slightly as he turned around. There was something odd about that boy, but he should trust him right. He had to help his friend with another crisis first.

Two hours after his meeting with Cameron, Arthur finally got the call from the states.

"I told you I'd have it, Artie. You can count on your old cousin to find out whatever you want to know." Gawain's voice sounded faint and not too reassuring. Despite the fact that he used the nickname he hated more than anything, it was nice to that he at least remembered to call him.

He spoke into his phone in a hushed tone. "Tell me, Wain. Who is this fucker and what does he want with Gwen?"

There was laughter on the other end. Not a good sign, it usually meant that he was going to get his hat handed to him sooner rather than later. "Did I say I had the perp? Sorry Art, I don't have that, but I do know who has made personal contact with your little girlfriend in the last six months."

Interested, Arthur asked his cousin to go on.

"Anyway, it turns out that Gwen has only had one boyfriend, and they broke up two months ago."

"How do you even get that information?"

"That's classified, cuz. You are not allowed to know anymore; other than, he does have a criminal background. Petty stuff mostly, larceny, grand theft, he sounds almost like a cocky ass version of you."

To try and hide his amusement, he laughed mockingly before saying, "Watch it, cousin. You know what I did to your mom."

"No more than I what I did to your ex girlfriend last summer," Gawain mocked back. Both laughing, Gawain gave his cousin the name and they hung up, Arthur went off to find out more information from this ex boyfriend on Gwen's mysterious messages.

It may or may not by a dead end, but this was Arthur's only chance to try and get back in Gwen's good graces. He fucked up his second chance when he betrayed her trust for a glimpse into her privacy.

Maybe third time is the charm…

Okay, this wasn't exactly how it was supposed to go. Arthur was outside Lance's place when he heard shots fired from inside the house. He took a step away from the window in the front door. Bracing himself by looking around the corners to see any perpetrators leaving the premise, Arthur thought he could do this without a gun; however, it looked like he had to be stealthy and disarm the shooter military style.

Movement coming from inside the house caused Arthur to pause, he heard grumbles and stumbling toward the door. That must be Lance himself, he thought as he positioned himself in way to get the upper hand on him when he opens his door.

No sooner did Lance reach the door, Arthur's hand moved swiftly. Clocking him in the nose, his other hand stealthy and swift restrained Lance's wrist that was holding the gun. The struggle was over as soon as it began. Arthur was ultimately in control with the pistol in his right hand as he had shoved Lance back into the living room of the house.

"I came here for answers on why you are threatening Guinevere, and I find you trying to escape. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you myself right now," Arthur demanded angrily. He was not going to be playing any games with the ex boyfriend.

Lance, obviously looking miserable and helpless, whimpered, bringing his hands up in surrender. "I wasn't trying to threaten Gwen. I was hoping to warn her. She's in trouble."

Wide eyed, Arthur pointed the gun at Lance's chest, boring it even deeper. "Why should I believe you? You almost tried to kill me."

"My apologies for that, I'm getting death threats myself. I owe some very dangerous people money."

Thinking about the words Lance previously said, Arthur released him slightly but only to ask, "You say Gwen is trouble? With who?"

"I'm not entirely sure. The only thing I know is that it has something to do with someone named Catrina," Lance breathed out, "Gwen is important to them for some reason."

Rolling his eyes, Arthur replied sarcastically, "Of course, they always recruit college students directly out of American universities for positions in the CIA or whatever. I'd have to ask Gwen if she's seen unusual behavior with any of her professors in her years at school."

"I would like to go back with you. I need to make sure Gwen is alright."

With furrowed brow, Arthur tersely replied, "I didn't get the impression that she wanted to see you when I talked to her."

Pleadingly and looking slightly pathetic, Lance begged, "It would ease my mind to see that Gwen is safe with my own eyes."

Could the man be any more pathetic, Arthur thought to himself, it was bad enough knowing that the two of them likely did more than once or twice. He didn't like entertaining selfish notions like this. It's obvious that he still harbors feelings for Gwen, but no one not even her wanted to talk about this man. This whiny excuse of a man is even worse than his own cousin who has been known to be a bitch about stuff on more than one occasion.

Before he could find a clever way to keep Lance from going over to Gwen's house with him, Arthur was interrupted by an explosion outside. It was obviously something close to the house because he could hear the windows rattling even though the house wasn't directly hit. He ran outside to see his car had burst into flames.

Fists clinching, Arthur surveyed the surrounding area for perpetrators. He had just gotten his car that morning, and it is laying in fiery heap outside some dumbass's house. There has got to be some kind of connection, and Lance has definitely got some explaining to do. Upon closer inspection of the area, Arthur heard the faint noise of a car peeling out somewhere nearby.

Muttering to himself, he started running towards where he thought the car was going to be driving away. As he made it to the road, he noticed the vehicle was already too far away for license number recognition. It didn't stop him from recognizing the model of the vehicle in question though. He grinned knowing that it was unlikely there would be many of them registered in the United Kingdom.

Lance was panting as he ran up to stand beside Arthur. He looked like he should have been in good shape, too, but he probably wasn't used to doing anything in short bursts. After he caught his breath, he finally said, "Who do you think you are anyway? Superman?"

"No, I just happened to have good breath control." Arthur grinned at Lancelot's disgusted looking face.

"Very funny, I was captain of my High School rugby team."

"I was captain and quarterback of my High School football team."

Making another face, Lance asked, "You're an American?"

"Half American, on my mother's side."

"Ah, I see. You do have a cocky ass attitude about yourself."

Scowling a little bit, Arthur quickly changed the subject. "I've heard that a few times in my life, but this isn't the time or place," he rounded on Lance forcefully, "do you think I'm just going to let you slide on the fiery car? How can I trust you when my car was turned into a barbeque pit at the sizzler?"

With round eyes, Lance looked almost like he was going to cry. He toughened up though with a still quivering upper lip when he said, "There have been guys watching my house, but they haven't done anything until you showed up at my door," he glared at Arthur, "maybe it's you that they are after."

"They're after me?" Arthur asked, rhetorically, "never mind about me, they're after Gwen, Morgana, and Cameron, too. How could I not assume it was you?"

"I apologize for offending you. I should have warned you before about the people watching my house."

Realization dawned on Arthur, it was clear that Lance didn't stage the car exploding because they had barely met before Arthur had kicked Lance's ass and took his gun.

"You didn't have anything of value in your car, did you?"

Grinning, Arthur pulled a Glock that had been hiding underneath his shirts from behind his back. Lance's mouth dropped open in amazement.

"What the hell, man? You had a gun on you, and you disarmed me. Can I have my gun back?"

Arthur looked at both Lance's gun and his own gun in his hands. Considering the circumstances and his own feelings, he decided, "I'm going to have to keep your gun as insurance."

"Fine. How are you going to get back into town?"

All of a sudden, Arthur's phone started trilling the beginning bars to "Tricky", and he answered his phone with "Yes, Merlin."

Merlin arrived at Elaine and Leon's place to find a very frantic and hysterical Elaine. It was almost good that she wasn't carrying or else Merlin was afraid that Elaine would be one of those homicidal maniacs. Nothing is more dangerous than a woman scorned. Merlin was almost afraid to ask what Leon did to avoid getting bludgeoned to death.

Don't get him wrong, he thinks of Elaine as one of his closest friends, but there is something wrong with her sometimes that makes her mental.

"Calm down, Elle, what's the matter? Where's Leon?" Merlin asked finally. He reached out to hold down Elaine's arms to keep from flailing about like the mad woman she was at the moment.

Breathing hard, Elaine could hardly get out the words she wanted to say. She gasped for air and burst out, "Leon's been kidnapped!"

Shock appeared on Merlin's face, he didn't know what to say to that. He was perfectly fine when Merlin had been forced to leave the house because Elaine and Leon had gone off to do their business. There was no reason why Leon could have relapsed again after one mental breakdown. Two head cases that deserved each other, Merlin thought to himself.

"Are you sure he was kidnapped, Elaine?" Merlin finally asked.

Elaine's eyes narrowed slightly when she said, "I heard a struggle out here last night after I went to bed. When I woke up at 6AM, my husband was gone. I don't know of any other way to describe this situation, Merlin."

Scratching his head, Merlin thought out loud, "Do you think Leon got tired of you after that private session last night?" Elaine promptly slugged him in the arm. Feigning hurt, Merlin rubbed his arm and said, "Sorry, I'm just trying to think of all the options."

With a pout, Elaine stammered, "Think of something else or else."

Merlin held up his hands in surrender. He asked, "Fine. I'm not good at this kind of thing. We need a detective for this case. Have you called one?"

"We need to wait 48 hours to report a kidnapping to the authorities," Elaine stated, "that's what the bitch said who took my call at the station."

Thinking quickly, Merlin put in, "We should call Arthur. He's sort of a detective. Maybe he could take on this job, too."

"Would he really help us? He doesn't have to do that."

Merlin shrugged off the question with a wave of his hand. "Oh please, Arthur takes on multiple tasks on a regular basis. If anyone could do this kidnap rescue in less than 48 hours, it would be my buddy, Arthur."

"Are you sure? He might be busy right now."

Merlin got out his phone to dial Arthur's number. He turned to Elaine while he dialed to say, "I'm calling him right now."

Elaine fell silent, looking nervous.

"Yes, that's fine, Merlin, I'll do this for your lazy ass. Meet us over at Gwen's so we can exchange and discuss the plans of action."

He had to do this for his friends, new and old, but he was annoyed by Merlin's presumptive nature. Giving Merlin the address, Arthur also told him to make sure that he wasn't followed on the way. If there was a kidnapper in the neighborhood, there might be dangerous men still lurking nearby.

Upon hanging up the phone, Lance asked Arthur, "Is Gwen in danger?"

"Not if Merlin is smart and keeps his eyes peeled for suspicious behavior," Arthur answered, then rethought it and said, "on second thought, we might have to worry because he only just gave up drinking yesterday. He's still getting used to his sea legs so to speak." He laughed lightly but his stomach was churning with the thought that Gwen could really be in danger if the kidnapper in Merlin's neighborhood had anything to do with Catrina. The look on Lancelot's face was not any help either.

If he had to not only protect a political candidate but find out what a kidnapper wants with some nobody from the mean streets of London, this was going to be a long day.

"You don't have a car, do you?"

Lance laughed, "My car is parked in a garage about a half mile from here. We can make it back into town in an hour if we hurry."

Without hesitation, Arthur gestured for Lance to show him the way. They were going to be the late getting back into town.

To be on the safe side, Merlin had decided to go back to his neighbor's house to pick up Caroline. It would be easier to not have to worry about her with some kid he hardly knew and with the recent knowledge of a kidnapper in the neighborhood.

Of course, it would be preposterous that a kid would be able to take a child without being seen. Merlin still felt relieved that Caroline had not been shown any harm in the half hour that she was left with Mordred who looked hurt that he was being asked to cut his babysitting short.

Merlin decided to pay him the little that is reasonable for a half hour of work. It was fair enough, and he could be a good reference for future babysitting jobs.

Thinking the exact same thing, Elaine got her son ready to go. They were waiting outside of Merlin's house when he came out with Caroline hanging from a sling. Elaine giggled when she saw Merlin wearing the sling.

Shaking a finger, Merlin warned, "Not one word about this to anyone." He was pointing at the baby carrier that was holding Caroline against his front.

Elaine made a zipper across her mouth and threw away the key. She was grinning again when Merlin's back was turned.

Opening the door to usher in Merlin, Caroline, and Elaine into the kitchen, Morgana had been feeling a bit more cheery before their arrival. A traumatic experience like she'd suffered she was expecting to feel depressed for weeks; however, it was the downtrodden look on the two adults faces that caused her to frown at them.

"What's with the frowns? I thought you came to visit as in a social call." Morgana's voice asked, scared that she might not like the answer they gave her.

Merlin spoke first, "We've been asked to come here by Arthur. He wants to talk to each of us about a plan he's got brewing."

"Figures. He's always doing something to be a hero, and I'm sure he also wants to make sure Gwen is alright," Morgana quipped.

Chiming in, Elaine stuck out her hand, she said, "I'm afraid we haven't been officially introduced. I'm Elaine, you met my husband last night, Leon."

Morgana blanched when she moved to shake Elaine's hand. She really did feel sheepish now for coming on to Leon. Elaine was gorgeous, and it was no wonder that Leon would want to remain faithful to her.

It was Elaine who broke the silence. "Have you seen Arthur yet?"

Shaking her head, Morgana answered, "I haven't seen anyone other than Gwen leaving this morning for school. I have the day off, but Gwen has a four hour lecture today. She should be home soon though."

"That's good. She's going to need to be here as well."

"Has Arthur found out who has been threatening our Gwen?" Morgana turned to Merlin when she asked her question. Merlin shrugged his shoulders.

"We don't really know about Gwen, but we also have to worry about Leon."

"What happened to him?"

"He was taken last night," Merlin informed Morgana, "presumably by the same shady cats that want Gwen to feel unsafe."

Morgana shuddered. She went to fill up water in her portable water heater. It was a proven fact that tea helped calm your nerves, and her nerves were on edge with all the talk of threats and the like. Clicking the heater on for the water to start boiling, there was a knock at the door. Morgana went to get it as she motioned for Merlin and Elaine to remain seated.

A fear that it was one of the many kidnappers talked about in the neighborhood at her door, Morgana was feeling trepidation before opening it up. Her fears were dissipated when Arthur and Lance appeared in her line of sight.

As angry as she was at Lance, she hugged Arthur when she saw him.

"Thank God it's you," she gasped, staring at Lance over Arthur's shoulder, "what is he doing here?"

Arthur allowed Morgana to hug him but shrugged her off after a minute. He looked over his shoulder at Lance and back at Morgana, he replied, "I had to bring him because my car was destroyed by a rogue firestarter."

Morgana punched Arthur in the arm. "You are not to bullshit me, Arthur Pendragon."

"I would never joke about cars, Morgana. Let's get out of the doorway so we can talk with the others skulking in the other room."

Without further adulation, Morgana led Arthur and Lance to sit down at the small table. They were offered tea while they waited for Gwen, and it was accepted by everyone except Arthur. He wasn't in the mood for tea at this time. Sipping their tea in silence, the others were not sure what to say to each other without the fear of having to repeat it later when Gwen arrived.

Humming was heard coming up the walk outside the house, it could only mean that Gwen was on her way into the house within a few short minutes. Arthur squirmed in his chair, waiting in anticipation to be able to tell everyone his plan. He spotted a piece of paper and a pen on the desk next to the table, and he picked it up to write out his plan.

Gwen took out her key to enter her house. She heard scuffling inside as she turned the lock. Not in the mood for more surprises, she hoped the clicking sound opening the door would scare away the scuffling.

Her nerves made way to relief when she found friendly faces greeting her from the table. Arthur stood up from his seat and gestured for her to sit down in his former place. There was something going on, and Gwen was too intrigued to protest right away about the secrecy. She sat down in the chair Arthur most recently vacated as he went to stand in the middle of the room facing everyone.

With a cough, Arthur started to speak, "It has come to my attention that Leon has been kidnapped. For the sake of everyone who has been involved, I would think it best for you all to stay in this house together for security reasons. I don't know what kind of operation is going on here under our noses, but I have to make sure nothing bad happens to Cameron as well."

A series of gasps erupted around the table. Six adults and one child face, all staring at Arthur, they were waiting for him to either continue or explain himself further.

"I know that this may be a stretch, but the recent twist of events has gotten me to think that the kidnapping, the text messages, and my assignment to protect David Cameron are connected," Arthur continued as he turned towards Elaine, "does your husband have any enemies that you are aware of?"

Elaine shook her head. Turning towards Gwen, Arthur asked, "Do you and Leon share anything that you know of?"

Perplexed by the question, Gwen cocked an eyebrow as she said, "I don't understand the question."

"Are you of some relation?" Arthur asked, rewording the question.

Shaking her head, Gwen answered, "Nope, I am not related to Leon."

Looking down at the sheet of paper in his hands, Arthur scribbled something in the margins besides something he's already written.

"So, what are you going to be doing exactly?" Merlin chimed in, "I'll help you if you need me."

Arthur looked up at Merlin and shook his head. "You can help me by not letting anything happen to the ladies because you are staying here."

Merlin frowned. His offering to help having been rejected, spirits were lifted slightly by Caroline bopping him on the nose.

"Excuse me, I can help you. It's stupid to do something dangerous alone," Gwen spoke again to Arthur, "we can all help you out." She waved a hand, in a sweeping movement, over everyone sitting at the table. They all nodded in agreement with Gwen.

"Guinevere," Arthur emphasized, "this isn't a mission for a group. I have to be able to maneuver around a focal point without risk of detection," paused for breath, he continued, "I've handled more dangerous missions than this in Afghanistan."

In a show of not wanting to be ignored, Lance interrupted the stare down between Arthur and Gwen.

"Do you need me for anything, Arthur? I have my business to attend to today. If not, I would be glad to take my leave. I only accompanied you back here to make sure Gwen was safe," Lance smiled at Gwen, who now looked at him, "she's in good hands. I bid adieu and good night."

As Lance left, Gwen rounded back to Arthur for another stern lecture. "You need a wing person to take some flak for you, Arthur Pendragon. I'm not going sit here and do nothing when you could use my help."

Tired of the arguing, Arthur finally agreed to let Gwen come along with him. He knew in his guts that it wasn't a good idea to let anyone else in on a plot, but this girl was adamant. It was also dare he say it aloud attractive for a woman to assert herself so forcefully. They could use a strong willed woman like her in the service.

With no further questions from the peanut gallery, the two vigilantes left the home and made their way towards the center of London.

"So, let's get this straight, you have a theory that Leon and I are sleeper cells," Gwen asked, as she and Arthur found a covered spot to do surveillance of the area outside the political arena where the first political debate would be held on national television, "I thought sleeper cells were only for the Russians."

Arthur shook his head vigorously. "There are sleeper cells that report to the secret underbellies of each individual country's Top Secret security agencies. The former Soviet Union is only the most famous to be exposed for using sleeper cells to spy on the enemy."

"That doesn't really explain the theory of why I would be a sleeper cell," Gwen replied, confused, "I've never even been to a government facility."

Arthur grinned mischievously. "That's how they do it in the movies, they take you into a government facility and then wipe your brain of any knowledge of the place itself." He made a spooky sound and waved his hands about like he was making smoke haze.

Even though it wasn't particularly amusing, Gwen found herself giggling at this display, but she slapped him across the face to show her distaste.

He grabbed his face, in mock pain. He hung his head in shame before replying, "Okay, okay I know that was uncalled for, but I couldn't resist," he added, "they don't necessarily have to be government facilities per say. Many of the top cells are recruited directly out of the local universities from professors who are purveyors of potential candidates."

Realization dawned on Gwen, her face blanched. She was getting a sickened feeling in her stomach. If she was a candidate to assassinate a potential Prime Minister, she couldn't possibly live with herself after the fact. She probably wouldn't be in her right mind, but she would also have to live with the fact that she committed an act of murder. Whatever Leon and she had in common, it would leave a bigger impact on Leon's life with his wife and child than if Gwen had actually gotten the messages.

"Oh, hello, what have we here?" Arthur spotted the familiar face of the professor in his failed lecture experience, looking suspicious, "He looks like a shady cat. I wonder what he is up to besides the live telecast prime minister debate."

Shaken out of her thoughts, Gwen looked to where Arthur was staring down into the crowd of people. Sure enough, it was the professor. "Oh, I didn't know Professor Jonas was going to be here, he wanted us to watch the debates on telly and write a summary about it for one of our assignments next class."

The name Jonas sounded familiar to Arthur, he had read it in one of Gawain's many documents from Washington's archives. Apparently, Jonas was the name given to the person responsible for multiple murders throughout the UK and even crossing the waters into the US. No one ever got an accurate description of him because the man was clever enough to have his face covered or do it at night when no one could possibly recognize him.

Meanwhile, Jonas disappeared from the crowd into a building across from the arena. Arthur decided right then to follow the man. Turning to his partner, he said to Gwen, "You need to stay here and keep your eyes peeled for Leon. I've got a bone to pick with the disappearing professor."

Gwen reached out to grab Arthur's arm, pleading for him not to go alone. Arthur put his foot down this time.

"I need you to keep an eye out for Leon," Arthur reiterated, "if you see him, you are going to have to do whatever you can to stop him."

Gwen tried to protest again, but Arthur said, firmly, "Trust me on this."

With that, he left Gwen to keep watch over the arena.

Entering the building that Jonas went through, Arthur came into an empty lobby. No sign of Jonas anywhere, he spotted an entrance to a staircase with the door slightly ajar. He was measuring his options on whether to get into a closed stairwell.

Upon further inspection of the room, there was a list of who worked in the building posted on a pole in the center of the open room. Reading the names on the pillar, Arthur paused on one in particular. Catrina.

Mind racing, Arthur went to the stairwell and took the stairs two at a time till he was one flight from the floor Catrina worked. He slowed his pace, and he caught his breath before barging into the door marked CEO.

He found a woman with dark blonde hair, back turned towards him, staring out the window towards the building next door.

Without turning, her voice echoed, "You've figured it out, haven't you?" She still hadn't turned to face him.

"Mostly," Arthur began to say, "I've only got to ask you one question. Why?"

Catrina turned around finally, laughing at him, "We can't allow one man to change the status quo for his own."

"Doesn't a country's citizenry have the freewill to decide that for themselves?" Arthur's question was pointed, and it was followed with, What do you mean by taking Leon for this purpose?

The smile Catrina put on her face was ice cold. There was no warmth in it whatsoever. She said, bemusedly, "It's a proven fact that children are gullible, and they will believe anything if they aren't given reason to believe otherwise."

Eyebrow cocked, Arthur countered, "I see, you've been working this angle on the children for how many years now, perhaps a generation," he mimicked Catrina's icy smile, "I think the more appropriate term is indoctrination."

"I've done no such thing."

"If not you, were you in cohorts with Professor Jonas at East Anglia, he recruits agents into your organization. You control with something, and then you wait till the right moment to strike."

"Very good. Do you have any more?"

Considering for a minute, Arthur paced back and forth, staring at Catrina all the while. He didn't know what she was getting at, but he went on by saying, "Every murder that has ever occurred in the last twenty years, it has all been done under your orders."

"Jonas said you were a pain in the ass, and I didn't even believe him. Continue?"

"My father was elected as an MP the year before my mother was shot and killed," Arthur blurted that out without thinking, but it made sense after he said so, his voice regained fervor, "my mother was only a pawn to get to my father, wasn't it?"

Arms folded over her chest, Catrina smirked. It was disturbing how evil she looked. She merely said, "You're too late to stop anything, Arthur Pendragon. My pawn is already in place, see for yourself."

As he looked out the window at the crowd, he actually saw Leon standing there as if waiting for signal. His eyes appeared glazed over even from this particular angle.

"He'll actually look smashing in those orange jumpsuits unlike the last guy I sent to prison for murder."

Staring in horror out the window, Arthur was too shocked to say anything else. He was too far away to get their before Cameron approached where Leon was waiting to kill him. It looked hopeless to think that he couldn't do anything; however, he replaced the frown with a smile as he turned to Catrina with a grin on his face.

Catrina looked confused. "What are you so happy about?"

Grinning bigger, Arthur said, "Look out the window and slightly to the right."

Sure enough, Catrina looked. She didn't see anything at first unusual, but she saw something speeding by down there towards Leon. It was Gwen, and she was in a dead sprint ready to barrel roll Leon into the ground. There wasn't much time before Cameron got nearer, and Gwen picked up speed, leaned forward to gain momentum, and lunged directly into Leon's lower back.

The impact found both of them on the ground in front of Cameron who stopped when he saw someone get pushed into his way. A small young woman was wrestling a gun out of the taller man's hand, and it looked like the man was trying to struggle out of her grasp. Locking her hips over his middle, Gwen was not going to let go until Leon was returned to normalcy. Prying the gun loose from his fingers, she slid it away from him.

Everyone was staring at her including Catrina and Arthur, they witnessed the whole scene below. Catrina was fuming mad. She seethed, "Who is that little brat?"

Smiling again, Arthur said, "She's not a brat. Her name's Guinevere, and she's pissed."

Eyes widened in horror, Catrina screamed and went into a rampage.

"It's the end of the line for you, Catrina. I'm calling the fuzz right now."

EPILOGUE

Sitting in Gwen and Morgana's living room watching the BBC Evening News, Morgana, Merlin, and Elaine were glued to the telly. Caroline was on the floor playing with a wooden spoon Arthur had given her before he and Gwen left to take down the bad guys.

As the news wasn't too excited, they were going to change the channel when a Breaking News bulletin flashed on the screen. "We interrupt our regularly scheduled newscast with this news out of Westminister during the early evening hours," the reporter said, "an assassination attempt was foiled today when a young woman risked her life to protect Prime Minister hopeful David Cameron." Video showed a sketchy image of Gwen running and tackling Leon to the ground, the three people sitting on the sofa were gaping at the screen, open mouth and all.

"I have to hand it to your Gwen, she has some hidden strength underneath that tiny frame," Elaine finally said, giggling at how her husband was taken down so easily. The phone started to ring as the scene changed to a dark blonde woman being escorted out of a building handcuffed. Arthur could barely be seen in the background talking to some armored guards.

Merlin spoke up, "Don't everybody get up at once. I'll go see who's on the phone." He rolled his eyes at Elaine and Morgana, still mesmerized by the news. "Hello. Gwen and Morgana's residence. Merlin speaking, how may I help you?"

There was a pause at the other end of the line. It was followed by a boat horn, and then the recording started:

"Do you feel like getting away for the summer? Do you want to spend some quality time with your significant other in the Mediterranean?"

Cursing silently at the phone, he hung up. He walked back into the living room to hear the girls' squealing and pointing at the television. Apparently, Arthur had gone to kiss Gwen when she was in the middle of her interview with the news reporter.

It rang again. Not wanting to be rude, Merlin answered again. Even though his gut told him to hang up, it was a good idea not to since it was Gwen's father calling to check up on her.

He tried to console Gwen's father the best he could, Merlin was even going to let him drag on about some story about Gwen as a little girl. It was sweet, and it reminded him that he has a little girl now, too. Moving to chance a look at Caroline in the living room still, Merlin couldn't help but smile at the memories that he will have of the two of them one of these days.

The doorbell rang, Merlin went to answer it with the phone still up to his ear. His mouth fell open when he saw who was standing on the front stoop.

"Oh. Hello, Merlin. May I come in?" Her voice was just like he remembered it, too. His grip had loosened on the phone. She continued, "Are you okay, Merlin?"

Without further coercion, the phone dropped out of Merlin's hand. He was staring gaping mouthed at this girl before he whispered, "Vivian?"

As Vivian smiled and nodded at Merlin, she said firmly, "We need to talk."

Feeling suddenly lightheaded, Merlin fainted in the door.

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Editor's Note: This was written for Paper Legends at LJ. By far, the longest crack fic I've ever written I should say. Accompanied with artwork, it is currently flock'd but will be visible as soon as this story posts:

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