Title: At First Glance

Summary: When Gwaine stumbles across a mysterious girl in the forest, he finds himself falling for her feistiness. But this girl has a secret, a secret that could bring Camelot to its knees. Gwaine/OC

Rating: T

A/N: Sorry if any characters seem a bit OOC. This is my first time writing a Merlin fic.


Chapter One


It was raining hard in Camelot and Gwaine was soaked to the skin. He had been kicked out of the tavern for picking a fight with another man and almost stabbing him.

Gwaine wandered the streets aimlessly, wondering where he could stay for the night. He knew it was too late in the night to disturb Merlin and he couldn't possibly bother Gwen at this hour either. In the end, he decided to use a ragged piece of cloth to camp out in the forest for the night.

After a few minutes of struggling to set up a misshapen tent, Gwaine finally managed to get it to stand. He emptied the contents of the bottle he was carrying into his mouth and threw the bottle aside.

As he lay down and closed his eyes, he heard something rustling in the bushes. Alarmed, he took out his sword and exited the miserable looking tent.

"Hello? Is anyone out there?" He asked cautiously. There was no reply. Just as he was putting his sword away, he heard more rustling. He drew his sword once more and walked deeper into the forest. He looked around, trying to see through all the darkness.

Suddenly, he heard someone running closer to him. He whirled around quickly and felt something collide against him and land on the ground with a soft thud.

Gwaine looked down and saw a girl wearing ragged clothing at his feet. He put his sword away and knelt down next to her.

"Are you alright?" He asked gently. The girl flinched away from him and gasped in pain as she fell onto her arm. Gwaine looked at her arm and saw blood seeping from a large cut. "Don't worry, I'll get you somewhere safe." He reassured her.

Gwaine wasn't sure how to take care of wounds very well but he did know that you had to cover it so it wouldn't get infected. After finding the cleanest part of his shirt, he tore it off and wrapped it around the girl's arm. The girl had stopped trying to get away and sat silently as he helped her.

"There." He said, looking at the girl's arm. She sniffed and wiped away some tears from her face.

"Thank you." She said quietly, still refusing to meet his gaze. Gwaine looked at the girl closely. Her simple dress was torn in various places and she had many cuts and bruises on her arms and legs. He felt angry and wondered who would do this to an innocent girl.

"I'm Gwaine." He said suddenly. He wasn't sure what had made him do that but the girl raised her head a little bit.

"Elizabeth." She said. Suddenly, she fell backwards and Gwaine managed to catch her before she hit her head. He picked her up gingerly and carried her to his makeshift tent. He lay her down gently and looked at her unconscious figure. She had long wavy dark red hair that was tangled and messy. Gwaine thought she would be very beautiful if she had been dressed properly.

A moan from her caught his attention and he leaned towards her. Her eyes fluttered open and Gwaine found himself staring into the most mesmerizing pair of green eyes he'd ever seen. "Thank you, Gwaine." She whispered weakly before closing her eyes once more.

For a few seconds, Gwaine was in a state of panic. When Elizabeth had closed her eyes, he thought she was dead. After taking a deep breath and checking for a pulse, he was relieved to find that she had just fallen asleep. He decided to sleep outside the tent to make sure that whoever had been chasing her wouldn't be able to hurt her again. He found the most comfortable spot on the ground and lay there, thinking about this mysterious girl.

"Goodnight, Elizabeth." He whispered to himself.

/

The next morning, Gwaine woke up with a terrible pain in his neck. He sat up stiffly and rubbed his neck to relieve the pain. He stood up and checked in on the sleeping girl in his tent.

"Elizabeth?" He asked as he peered into the tent. Elizabeth stirred after hearing his voice and sat up carefully, avoiding her injured arm.

"Gwaine? Wh-where am I?" She asked. Gwaine gave her a smile.

"Camelot. How's your arm?" He asked. She poked her arm and winced in pain.

"A bit better." She smiled back. Gwaine smirked.

"Good. You'll need to be awake if I'm going to carry you to Gaius." He said. Elizabeth blinked.

"Carry? What do you mea- AH!" She yelled. Gwaine scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the tent. "Put me down!" She exclaimed. Gwaine ignored her and continued walking until she slapped his head.

"No need to get feisty." He muttered, setting her down. Elizabeth stuck her chin up and took a step forwards before collapsing. Gwaine suppressed a laugh as Elizabeth sent a glare in his direction.

"Need a hand?" He asked innocently. Elizabeth sighed and let him carry her.

"You're very sneaky." She informed him. Gwaine winked at her.

"I prefer the word 'charming,'" He said slyly. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and looked up as they approached the castle.

"Its beautiful," She breathed. Gwaine looked at the girl's awed expression and smiled a little. He marched up the stairs leading to Gaius' chambers and pushed the door open with his shoulder.

"Hello? Gaius? Merlin?" He asked as he entered the room. He laid Elizabeth down on the bed near the fireplace and looked around. He heard the door to Merlin's room open and saw Merlin looking out.

"Gwaine! What are you doing here?" Merlin asked, grinning. Gwaine smiled back and nodded his head towards Elizabeth.

"Found her wandering around the woods last night. She's got a really bad cut on her arm." Gwaine explained. Merlin walked over to Elizabeth and carefully undid the cloth wrapped around her arm. He winced at the sight of the cut and hastily wrapped it again.

"Its better if Gaius checks this himself." Merlin informed Elizabeth as he handed her a cup of water.

"Thanks you, Merlin." She said after drinking the water. Merlin smiled at her.

"No problem. Sorry, what's your name?" He asked.

"Elizabeth." Gwaine said. Elizabeth glared at him again.

"Don't you know it's rude to interrupt a conversation?" She asked, irritated. Gwaine smirked.

"Don't you know it's dangerous to wander around at night in the forest?" He said back. Elizabeth looked affronted and looked away from him. Merlin watched the two of them and smiled to himself.

Thankfully, the door opened and Gaius returned. Merlin was happy that he had arrived because he could feel the tension between Elizabeth and Gwaine dissolving a bit.

"Gaius, Elizabeth here has a couple of bad injuries." Merlin said. Gaius hurried over to her and took in her injured state.

"What happened to you, my dear?" Gaius asked in concern. Elizabeth looked at her hands and fiddled with a ring she was wearing.

"I was getting chased by a group of bandits. I barely escaped but Gwaine found me." She explained, shooting a grateful glance at Gwaine. Gaius inspected her cut carefully.

"Merlin, get me that ointment over there. The one in the green bottle." He instructed. Merlin grabbed the bottle on the shelf and handed it to Gaius.

"Sorry, this might hurt a bit." Gaius said apologetically as he dabbed the ointment onto Elizabeth's cut. She winced occasionally but didn't make any noise. Gwaine found himself watching her again. She was unlike any girl he had ever met. Her red hair was one main difference but she also seemed stronger than other girls he'd met.

"There you go, my dear. All better?" Gaius asked after wrapping another piece of cloth around Elizabeth's arm. She nodded and smiled.

"Yes, thank you so much!" Gaius patted her arm and stood up.

"It was nothing. Excuse me; I have some more work to do. Merlin, I believe Arthur was looking for you. He mentioned something about his armour." Merlin groaned at this and grabbed a rag.

"See you around, Elizabeth." He said as he left the room. Gaius had bustled out again to get water, leaving Gwaine and Elizabeth alone.

After a moment of silence, Gwaine spoke up.

"Do you think you can walk now? I don't want to have to carry you around all the time." He said. Elizabeth scoffed.

"Who said I liked being carried around?" She said back. Gwaine looked in bewilderment at the girl in front of him. Never before had he been spoken back to like this. Usually if he said something like this to a girl, she'd giggle and blush but Elizabeth was a whole different matter.

"Never mind," Gwaine said, trying to compose himself. He stood up and stretched a bit.

"If you need anything, just shout. I'll be in Merlin's room. Blasted ground made my back hurt." He said gruffly as he headed for Merlin's room. Elizabeth realized that she must have slept in the tent while he slept outside on the ground. She felt a rush of affection for the strange man who rescued her and sat up.

"Thank you." She called out as he stepped into Merlin's room. Gwaine turned around and looked at Elizabeth. She looked at him with her brilliant green eyes. "If you hadn't rescued me, I'd be in more danger." She said softly. Gwaine smiled at her before turning away and walking into Merlin's room.