Author's Note: Hi! I wrote this a while ago for ag_fics' Short Challenge on livejournal. I totally forgot to post it on fanfiction, but here it is! It's definitely an AU fic, so keep that in mind. This is my second Merlin fic, and I'm a big fan of the show as well as Gwen/Arthur. I am an American, so bear with me. Also, whenever Gwen is with Arthur, the POV shifts to the present tense.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or anything associated with it.

The first time The Mark sees her is at a club. She makes sure of it.

The music is too loud, and the air is stifling and sticky with the scent of too many bodies.

She makes sure to wear the most formfitting dress she owns, the black, ruched material settling in all the right places.

The Mark is sitting at a table, surrounded by his Uni mates, a bottle in his hand which is poised at his lips.

She doesn't need to say anything, only capture his attention.

She notices that his table is on her way out of the slightly overcrowded building and decides to execute her plan.

Standing up, she surveys her surrounding area, a product of effective training. Quickly looking over at the mark, she sees his mouth open in laughter at something one of his friends has said, eyes dancing in enjoyment. She licks her lips, and her toes curl in anticipation.

She begins walking towards the door, hips swaying and delicate curls bouncing with every step. And, even though she can't see him, she knows that his eyes have found her body. Her skin tingles with the excitement of his fascination with this creature he knows nothing about.

The Mark's spotted her, but that's exactly what she wants.

~BTP~

When Gwen first received the Pendragon case, she wasn't quite sure what she was getting herself into. Having been recruited by the Avalon Agency just two years prior, when she was 18, Gwen was relatively new to everything, though she wasn't unwilling to do what was necessary to get the job done.

"This needs to be handled with the utmost importance. We can't afford to muck it up, or Morgause will have both our heads." Morgana said, throwing the case file down onto Gwen's desk.

Gwen opened it and began looking through the various papers. "Tell me about The Mark." She said.

"Arthur Pendragon, 21, in his final year of University."

"What does he have that I need?" Gwen asked, confused.

"Well," said Morgana, excitedly leaning forward. "His father is Uther Pendragon."

Gwen's jaw slightly dropped. "The Uther Pendragon?" Morgana nodded smugly. "So," Gwen continued. "Why is his son The Mark?"

"Arthur is going to be joining his father's business fairly soon, and there's no doubt he already knows company secrets. You can get the information we need from him instead of going straight to the source. We don't want to get our hands too dirty."

"What's the plan, then?"

"Simple. Seduce and destroy." Morgana said, as if it was the most obvious thing.

"I just kill him when I have the information? Just like that?"

Morgana gave a disapproving tut. "Look, I know you're new at this, but you have to go with your instincts. And you don't want him wising up and figuring out what's going on. So, you have to get rid of this Arthur. For the good of Avalon."

Gwen couldn't help but feel like Morgana was playing mind games with her.

~BTP~

The second time The Mark sees her is in a library.

Gwen isn't exactly aware of his presence. She likes to peruse the shelves, reading the synopsis for various books, but never actually reading the book. If she just knows the basic storyline, she can make the story up in her head instead of possibly being disappointed with book.

A tingling sensation begins at the back of her neck, alerting Gwen that she's being watched. She turns her head slightly to her left. Hearing the slight shuffle of feet moving on carpet, she dangerously whips around, her body going into defensive mode.

And there he is. The Mark.

Gwen quickly lowers her head, pulling her mouth into a slight smirk, and looks at him through her lashes; the epitome of coyness.

"S-sorry." He stutters out. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you or anything."

Gwen shakes her head, the smirk still firmly on her face. "It's all right."

They stand there for a second, when recognition washes over The Marks face. "I know you." He said, pointing at her. Gwen knows that he recognized her long before just now. Even if he didn't know it consciously.

"Do you?" She asks.

He doesn't want to scare her away.

"Well, I don't know you. But, I recognize you. From…somewhere." His shoulders sag for a brief second. He's probably planned this conversation in his head, but she's not sticking to the script.

"Hmm. I don't know where." Gwen replies, silently daring him to speak his mind.

"Somewhere." He repeats. He just stands there, with his eyes on the ground and brows furrowed. So lost and helpless, and Gwen feels almost guilty.

Maybe that's why she tells him her name. Her real name.

"Gwen." She says.

He looks up, confusion etched into his face. "Sorry?"

"Gwen. My name is Gwen." The smirk melts into a soft smile.

"I'm Arthur." I know.

"Hello, Arthur." Gwen replies. She grabs the book she had been looking at off of the shelves and begins walking towards the librarian's desk. She stops and looks back at The Mark. He's just staring after her. Gwen inclines her head, giving him a silent 'follow me.'

He goes to her side and they begin walking.

"What's Gwen short for?" He asks, trying to make conversation.

"Guinevere." She shrugs.

"Oh. Guinevere." He repeats, trying it out.

She quickly suppresses a shudder and can't help but think that she's fallen in love with this Arthur just by the way he says her name.

~BTP~

When asked about how her first big mission is going, Gwen never fully divulged what exactly was going on. Most assumed it was just a rookie wanting to enjoy their first real job.

But, she didn't want to slip up and let anyone catch on to what was really going on.

Sure, she was definitely going to get the information required of her, but she couldn't help but feel like she was slipping up.

The Mark wasn't resisting, not in the least. In fact, he was making everything incredibly easy. But, it was also difficult. Gwen had been trained to do what was needed of her, and she couldn't help but begin to feel guilty over what she was doing.

However, the mission was the most important thing, and Gwen was sure that Morgana had some sort of inkling over what was going on inside her head, which was somewhat expected. But, what Gwen didn't expect was for Morgause, her boss, to come strutting into her office one day.

"Ma'am." Gwen said, standing up as soon as she saw the woman. She motioned for Gwen to sit back down, taking a seat in front of Gwen's desk.

"Hello, Ms. Leodegrance." Morgause smiled. "I was just coming to check up on you."

"Oh," said Gwen, taken aback. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Yes, well, I was more so seeing how your case was going."

"Of course." Gwen said, chastising herself for thinking otherwise. "It's going very smoothly. Everything's in perfect working order."

"That's lovely to hear."

Gwen couldn't help but feel like Morgause's smiles were secretly sneers full of venom.

"Anything else, ma'am?" Gwen asked.

"Only that I'm glad you realize the significance of your assignment. We can't afford for anything to go wrong, and I'm glad that I made the right decision to put you on the job."

Gwen's breathing picked up slightly, knowing that this was more than a friendly visit; it was a warning: Mess this up, and you're gone. Indefinitely.

Gwen nodded tightly, and Morgause turned to go out the door.

"And, Gwen?" Morgause stood in the doorway. "I'm glad we had this talk."

~BTP~

It isn't the third or fourth time. It's the twelfth.

They're lying in his bed, facing each other. Both are still fully clothed, and the sun outside is slowly but surely going down. They don't say anything, which isn't uncommon for them.

She scoots closer and settles directly in front of him. She can feel his breath on her face and notes the minty smell. She assumes he brushed his teeth prior to her arrival in the hopes that he would get lucky that night, but she can't blame him because she did the same thing.

He brings his hand to settle on her hip, and she puts hers on his bicep.

Their lips are rightthere, and it's hell for neither one of them to take action. A torturous game they play with each other, seeing who can hold out the longest, but no really loses.

He eventually gives up and places his lips on hers, slightly adding pressure. She replies with earnest and moves her hand up to his jaw, changing the angle of the kiss.

He grips her side tighter, his fingers digging into her skin but she never tells him that it hurts a little. His tongue peeks out and grazes her bottom lip, begging for entrance. She opens her mouth a little more and he groans in appreciation.

He moves on top of her, his hands grazing up and down her sides, knee pushing her legs slightly apart, and transfers his kisses to her neck. She lifts her head to give him easier access and drags her hands down his broad shoulders.

Opening her eyes, she decides she doesn't like this position. Gracefully rolling them over so she's on top, she begins pulling her jacket off.

He sits up and moves her hair out of her face. He cradles her head in his hands, running his thumb down the side of her face to her lips. He stares at her mouth while his thumb glides across the soft flesh there. He hesitantly kisses her, pulling back and looking at her like that.

Like she's the thing he's been searching for all his life.

She doesn't know if she likes that or not.

Clothes are taken off, and he's poised and ready. He slides into her and they gasp at the sensation pulsing through each of them. He begins moving and, as she claws at his back to urge him further, she stops thinking about possibly having to kill him.

~BTP~

It's sometime past two in the morning when Gwen is sure that Arthur is asleep. Carefully slipping out of bed, she pulls her underwear and one of his T-shirts on. Moving over to where her handbag is, Gwen takes out a flashdrive and her small pistol, holding it down as she moves out of the room. Once she gets to the front room, she cocks it. She highly doubts that Arthur would be much of a threat, but her instincts tell her she can never be too safe.

Gwen finds Arthur's computer on the couch and she quickly powers it up. Using what Morgana taught her, she hacks into all his files and weeds out anything that has no use to her. She plugs her flashdrive into the computer, transferring files over to it.

After turning the computer off and setting it back where it was, Gwen notices a small wooden chest on the ground next to the couch. Sitting down next to it, she examines it for any sort of traps or alarms. Finding it satisfactory, she opens in and figures she's hit the jackpot.

Inside are even more files, most of which have direct information of Uther Pendragon's company and their exploits.

However, Gwen can't help but feel a niggling thought in the back of her mind wondering why Arthur would even have this information. She pushes that thought aside and grabs the files she needs.

It's when Gwen grabs her gun and stands up that she gets the feeling that someone is watching her. Pausing for a second, Gwen flexes her finger on the trigger. Wheeling around and raising the gun in front of her, she finds herself staring down the barrel of a gun. Being held by iArthur/i. At least they both have a gun in the other's face.

He only has his boxers on, but his face shows no humor.

"Surprise." He says. Gwen's face betrays no emotion. "Who sent you?"

"Morgause." Gwen answers truthfully.

He scoffs. "Figures."

Gwen motions to his gun. "What are you doing with that?"

"I know that I have information that people want. I need to be able to defend myself."

"And, why, exactly, do you have this information?" She held up the files in her hand. "You don't work for your father yet, and I highly doubt even then he'd make you privy to his company's secrets."

His eyes narrow. "I stole them."

Gwen raises her brows. "Why?"

"The same reason you want them: to take down my father."

At that, Arthur lowers his gun, prompting Gwen to lower hers as well. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

He shrugs and moves to her. "You don't." He takes the files from her hand and puts them back inside the chest.

"Okay." Gwen nods her head. "I believe you." Arthur sits on the couch and rubs his eyes. "You know," she says, staring at him. "I was supposed to kill you."

"Really?"

"Yes. But, I'm not going to." Gwen goes on. "I think that we could, perhaps, work together."

"I think you're right, Guinevere."

Arthur goes over to the chest, picks it up, and puts it on the table in front of him. After opening it, he gestures for Gwen to sit next to him on the couch.

"How long have you known? About me?" Gwen asks.

"I became suspicious when I felt like I was in love with you, which was probably the second time I saw you."

"If it's any consolation," Gwen offers. "I was probably in love with you since then, too."

Arthur turns away from her to pick a file off of the table, but she still sees the slight smile on his face.

And, she can't help but think that, yes, this is much better than killing him.

I hope you enjoyed it!

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