Title: The City of the Forgotten
Author: TwilightKitsune1- REBORN
Word count: 3,571 (Chapter One)
Pairing: Morgana/Leon, Gwen/Lancelot, Arthur/Merlin
Rating: M – NC-17
Summary: It's a town like any other on the surface but there's one difference, if you live here you are trying everything you can to stay alive and not strike a deal with the devil. If you do and you can't pay it back it doesn't matter where you hide because when you turn around there will be a man with a gun pointed right at your head asking one last time... Steal, trade, bargain, nothing matters to him except the price you owe, or your head. You have till he's done playing.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but this particular story idea (all character's, locations, or idea's FROM the TV show Merlin are not mine) This is a fan based story and I am making NO profit from it. I'm just borrowing the character's for a bit of fun ;)
Warnings: Modern AU, DARK!Merlin (sort of, may lighten him up later), drug use, some non-con, YAOI (slash), violence, OOC-ness (all over the place), PWP (at times, plot comes and goes), angst (cause that happens in my stories), drama (and lots), ... may be more but this is only the beginning!
Notes: I've been dying to write an Arthur/Merlin story for a bit and have been going out of my head twitchy trying to think of one that hasn't been done (or is to cliché) and I came up with this one! I started working on a few notes, edging out a few things, and then I remembered... I'm already SUPER busy with another story of mine D=

So-ooo Here's the deal, I'll write as much as I can of this, while still working on my other story whenever inspiration/my Muse feels like poking my head telling me to work on it (cause right now I have a bat beating this story out of me) and hope the characters don't clash ::crosses fingers:: ... But still I'm loving this story so far! To warn everyone, Merlin and Arthur will take a while to develop (they have to meet first, but I'm laying the way/path) ::dances:: I can't wait! (is it bad that I'm excited and I'm the one writing this story?) O.o

Chapter One

The boy stood there, a wicked smile on his lips, as he pressed the cool steel of his gun to the cold and clammy skin of the pale man that shook below him. His hand gripped tightly to his blue and gold tie, a mismatching of colors in the boys opinion for such an occasion, but no one ever knows when he's coming; they just know when he's there and that's his favorite part. Their fear.

He wasn't a secret from anyone but he was as most would say, untouchable. Like a ghost that would come in in the dead of night and leave as though he hadn't even been there. The only proof, the dead he left in his wake. No evidence, no mess, just clean and precise and that was how he liked it. How he liked it... and that thought only made him ground the barrel of the gun in harder to the shaking coward of a man bellow him causing him to whimper and cry. "I'll get the money, I swear!" he cried out in vain knowing all too well what was coming.

"You struck a bargain and you didn't pay up." He whispered, making sure only the man could hear and his voice wouldn't carry. "So now it's time you learn."

"Please!" The man cried again trying to reason with the one hovering above him. "I have a family; I needed to look after them!"

For a moment he closed his eyes, how many times had they used their families to gain freedom? He wondered silently as he cocked his gun. "Then you probably should have thought of them before you started down this road." Was all he said as a smile graced his lips, a cruel, unforgiving smile that promised nothing of what was to come.

"NO—!" he tried but was cut off as the gun fired.

For a moment he stood there just looking down at the lifeless body, at the blood and whatever else dripped from the hole his gun had caused, and looked into the lifeless eyes of the man. He couldn't not look at them, always looking into them when he finished his jobs. He had been told once by some unknown face now, that they would drag you down, haunt you, but he had never seen them when he left them behind in their death rooms. In a way he sometimes felt jealous of them, in a way he sometimes wished they would fight back more. They never did. He always finished a job, always got his pay, and always found himself a new body at the end of the day to hide away in his closet of horrors.

As he silently put away his gun he looked around the room. There wasn't much of a mess, this one had given up long before he had arrived... There was no pity for this death. As he left the room, the building, he flipped open his phone on the street and called in.

"I'm done for today."

"Well done Merlin, I knew this work would be an easy job for you today. I'll make sure to send some of our men so they'll be the ones who get the call."

"I feel cheated somehow Uther."

There was a bark of laughter at the other end, "Don't worry about it, I know you've been needing to recover from a few of the harder cases. Why don't you and Morgana take the rest of the night off, go pick her up and make sure she gets home safe."

"She would get home safe if I was with her or not... but I will." Merlin said and looked to his watch knowing she would be at her club. "I'll be going then." And with that he hung up.

Days blend together and nights flash by in this city of sin. Deals are struck and hands are shaken and if not paid in full by their deadlines then a ghost is always there to collect in interest. Cops are paid off and clubs are run by a man who acts like the devil himself, ruling the town with an iron fist. No one can run when a target is on their back, and if they do they dig their own graves. When you come to this city you make your own place, keep your head low and hope no one notices you because it is so easy to be bought and paid for. So easy that no one even bats an eye when people go missing or turn up dead... This place is nothing more than a death sentence for some and a utopia for others.

Merlin walks to a hotdog vender set up on some corner of the street and without a word passed between the two he just hands Merlin one for free. So easy, He thinks as he bites into the food as he continues on his way to Morgana's club that never closes. Day or night it is always open with its music pumping and its drugs selling like hotcakes under everyone's noses. They know the devils and their minions but with no evidence, no proof, they can only watch as they rule this town and stomp on all those who surround them. They drive businesses under that don't pay, and kill those that stand up to them. A life like this...

Was what he was traded into.

X.x.X.x.X

As Merlin walked into the club he could smell the stench of smoke and liquors filling the air, as well as the peoples aftershaves and perfumes mixing. A strong odor, nearly over powering with the musty smells of the fog machines as they spat out random burst of smoke to the ground to add an effect to the lights the blazed from the ceiling in reds, greens, golds, and flashes of white. On stage there were dancers barely covered in clothing moving in rhythmic forms to the music that played, as well as the cages that hung to the walls. People sat drinking at tables or at bars on the three walls opposite the entrance, dancing in various areas since the dance floor always seemed crushed, off in corners talking amongst themselves, or leaning heavily against benches blitzed from things Merlin didn't care enough to ponder too far into.

Slowly he made his way to Morgana's office in the club and met with Percival as he stood outside the door, arms crossed eyeing the crowds. "Tough night?" Merlin asked jokingly as he eyed the bags under his eyes.

"Same as it is every night. I'm guessing you need to see Morgana then?" he asked in a no nonsense way, his eyes never leaving the crowed as some men made a show of cat calling a few of the dancers.

"Uther asked me to get her home. Perhaps you should do the same mate, you are looking a bit worn around the edges." Merlin said as he walked passed patting his shoulder and going into the room.

Morgana turned quickly from the table, her eyes narrowed for only a moment until she noticed Merlin's smile. "I wasn't expecting you." She laughed.

"Just a request your father made, following orders to get you home." Merlin said and he realized now as he looked at her that it was probably not just Percival who hadn't slept for some time as bags seem to show even under her pale makeup. Her clothes were like many others in the club except that they looked far more pricy, far more extravagant, and far more seductive. She had jewels throughout her hair that hung down onto her forehead, and her clothes were a deep crimson wine color. It was nearly see through like many others and dragging the floor behind her in a fashion that warned any not to come close or consequences would be had. The sleeves of the gown hung long and low but tied tight to her wrists so her movements were that of something to be seen with beauty as she would hypnotize most with her dancing. Merlin had sat and watched her dance in their youth for hours, sometimes joining other times content to just sit, but always at Morgana's side.

Morgana smiled at him as she pulled out a pack of her cigarettes and grabbing one for herself she passed him the box. He made an internal face, how he hated smoking her menthols but if she insisted he could not deny her and silently pulled one out and waited till she finished lighting her cigarette before passing the box back. "I have a problem Merlin." Morgana confided as he lit his cigarette and she sat watching his face change from one of placid to interest in an instant.

"Have you spoken to your father about this problem?" Merlin asked as he found a seat on her desk. The room was so cluttered with things. There was the desk at the center and her large leather chair for comfort at the back of it, both facing the door so not to be surprised when someone entered, and then there was a table off to the left side of the room covered in papers and bottles and bags and candles and other odds and ends. There were also pillows on the floor, in the corners, and one had even found its way onto the desk, 'Probably due to some all-nighters again.' Merlin thought as he looked at the two chairs that sat facing Morgana's desk for anyone who actually came in to talk to her that actually wanted to talk business. 'So much stuff... always the pack rat of pretty things I guess.' Merlin thought.

"You know how he would handle any problem." Morgana said interrupting Merlin's thought's as she leaned back against the table. "If there's a problem you take care of the problem... but I don't want to handle it like that. She's my responsibility, and her husband has been useful to us in the past so if we handle it like we always do then... there could be trouble."

Merlin blinked for a moment. "Who is it Morgana?"

"Merlin please!"

"It's just a talk..." Merlin said as he ground out the finished cigarette into the crystal ashtray. "And I'll need details too."

"It's Gwen, one of my dancer's..." Morgana confided.

X.x.X.x.X

Merlin walked out into the crowds, she was there, he had seen her when he walked in. She was on stage dancing and earning tips for the club, but if what Morgana said was true then she wasn't doing her job, she wasn't doing what she was bought for. He scanned the stage, the faces that would normally mingle together any other time became clear, today was different. He could feel the annoyance smack him in the face when he didn't see her there and his finger began to twitch.

Of course she wouldn't be there, who would stay when they know they were in trouble and the ghost, as they've come to call him, comes into the building and talks to the one person that knows why you're in trouble. Silently he makes his way to the back, drunks running into him every now and then and slurring their apologies as Merlin doesn't even bother looking back at them as he continues to move forward. Perhaps she just went to the dressing room, if not, if she slipped out because he came in... No matter how much Morgana pleaded he would have to tell Uther.

He doesn't bother knocking, slowly he pushes the door open to its fullest extent and walks in, ignoring the silent glares from the naked females in the room. It takes a moment for the older ones to slap sense into the younger ones, to tell them to shut-up and not say a word because they know he only ever comes here for one reason. Finally Merlin spots her, she hadn't run... She was just changing for her next dance. A small relief as his finger stops twitching as he looks at her tousled hair, glittered backside, and purple heels.

"Gwen." Merlin said as his eyes were locked on her, "When you're done here I need to speak with you... Before you go home."

A cold chill went over the room as soon as he spoke. Fearful looks went between the two as Gwen froze now realizing Merlin was there. "Merlin!" she nearly screamed in fright turning to cover herself and look at him with eyes like a deer would look at oncoming headlights. "What are you doing in here?"

"I need to speak with you... Privately. When your shift's done. Speak with Morgana to get the room number." And with that he turned and left. He'd go ahead and head upstairs, he'd wait there for her... and he'd wait till he was satisfied, talk to her if she showed... If she didn't it was her choice after all, he couldn't make her choose. He was just a weapon and if one said talk he'd talk, but if his master said kill, he'd kill without hesitation. That was his world, his truth, the only way he knew how to live and he lived it well enough.

So he'd go upstairs and he'd wait, and talk if she showed... He hoped she did he kind of liked how easy she was to get along with. As the elevator doors closed in front of him his hand brushed against the hilt of his gun. She was easy to talk to sure, but how many others could have been easy to talk to and he snuffed them out without a moment's pause. She wouldn't be any different. Morgana would be upset for a while but she would understand, she always did after he took away one of her dancers.

As the doors opened and he began walking to the room he was to meet Gwen in he smiled, wasn't like he couldn't find her a new one though. Plenty of people on the streets these days dying for food and shelter, and he was sure one of them would be more than willing to take Gwen's place if he had to find someone to replace her.

X.x.X.x.X

"Gwen are you going to be alright?" One of the other dancers, Morgause, asked.

"I'm not sure... I don't know what he'd need to see me about."

"Have you been working?"

Gwen looked stricken for a moment as she looked at the concerned face of Morgause. "Of course I have!"

"Then you have nothing to fear." She said with a smile and a peck on Gwen's cheek. "As long as we dance and work then we do our jobs and are safe."

"You're right, of course." Gwen said as fear twisted in the pit of her stomach. "I'll be out in a minute; I need to pull myself together." She finished with a broken smile.

"Of course, take a moment to yourself." Morgause called over her shoulder as she ushered other girls out of the changing room and back onto the stage.

Gwen watched as the door swung shut behind the dancers and breathed to calm her nerves. She knew she danced, she earned that money for the club but the other part... Closing her eyes tight she silently wished she had never agreed to work here but the money had been too good to pass up. That greed had damned both her and her husband. Her eyes slowly opened as tears began to sting the back of her eyelids. Poor, dear, brave Lancelot, he was always covering up the messes that were made, to keep the secrets, to keep her safe. Swallowing hard she decided, if he could stare at his men, at his bosses, and lie for these people then she could... She could lay down with another for him, to keep him and anyone else that could be threatened because of her selfishness safe.

Slowly she got up and walked to a phone and dialed out a number that she only called when she needed a shoulder to lean on when she feared to burden her husband. The line rang for what felt like forever when a familiar voice answered.

"Hey you've reached the gym Camelot, where only the strongest and bravest train."

"Arthur... Is my brother Elyan working today?" Gwen asked trying to keep her voice strong.

"Oh hey Gwen, thought you were a new recruit." Arthur joked on the other end sounding jovial without a care in the world. "Let me go check if he's in the office yeah?" he said when Gwen made no response to his joke as she normally would.

"Thank you Arthur." Gwen could only say as he placed her on hold to go in search of her brother. She was always so proud of the two, having carved out their own spot in this god-forsaken town. They seemed so untouched by the evils that sometimes she was jealous of them and wondered how they could accomplish so much with just their charm and ability to train others and fight.

"Gwen you still there?" Arthur was back on the line as she was feeling her tears beginning to build and she silently cursed herself.

"Y-yes, I'm here." She started but there was no covering the small quiver in her voice.

"Your brothers gone for a run with the novices so you're going to be stuck talking to me as you cry out your woes. What happened?"

"Oh it's nothing Arthur, really. Thanks for caring I've figured it all out by myself... You've got some great hold music."

"Um Gwen... It's just Survivor music, mostly for joking purposes."

"Well it brightened my day." Gwen lied and closed her eyes. "Tell my brother I say hello won't you?"

"Yeah, of course... You sure you don't want to talk?"

"I told you Arthur I'm fine now. Besides I have work and their already telling me to get back to it so I'll call back later... Goodbye Arthur." And with that she hung up and took a deep breath. "It's better this way."

"It is." Morgana said from behind her startling Gwen from her spot, "For a moment I was thinking I was going to regret my decision."

"Morgana!" Gwen ran into her arms, tears streaking her face. "I'm scared, so scared!"

"I know Gwen, but you made a deal when you came to work here and you are costing more money than bringing in when you don't do you job." Morgana said as she patted the trembling Gwen's head. "I was wondering why you weren't on stage."

"I wanted to speak with my brother one last time... Merlin was back here."

"I sent him."

"What!" Gwen pulled back as she looked up to her friend with shock and fear. "You sent him to kill me?"

Morgana laughed and patted Gwen's cheek, "No, of course not." Slowly she guided Gwen to a chair so she could sit and understand. "I told him the circumstances of what's been happening here, he wanted to tell Uther, which would have been a death sentence but I talked him in to having a talk with you first... Unless..."

"Unless what?" Gwen asked as she felt hope spring into her.

"Unless you've already decided what's for the best." Morgana finished with an understanding smile. "You are not the only one who has a job to the rooms. You have others to speak to, to confide in, and you will always be protected here. This is our home, our safe haven from the world that is so... It's beyond my reaches to fix it, but in these walls I can save as many souls that work and earn their keep."

"But..."

"You are not the only one who must return to a husband after another man has touched them Gwen."

Gwen looked at Morgana, truly looked then. The hardness, the cruelty, the empty shell of a woman who was filled with pain and love and understanding. "Does Leon know?"

"Does any man know what a woman does at this work?" Morgana said with an empty smile on her beautiful face. "He thinks I sell drugs, have peep shows, and sell the flesh of others upstairs... He doesn't bother to know that my flesh is on the higher market, but still there, still for sell."

Gwen flung herself into Morgana's arms then, held to her tighter than before. "I didn't know either!" she cried as her tears went free. "Forgive me Morgana I didn't know!"

"If I could I would keep my girls safe, keep you all safe, but sooner or later we all must go to those rooms... It is what my father has ordered. If he finds out I have been soft with you—"

"I will..." Gwen said nodding into Morgana's stomach, "I will not cause you any more grief."

"Thank you Gwen." Morgana said as she stood and began to head towards the door. "I will speak with Merlin, you will go to the room on the key."

Gwen looked down and saw a key had been place on the table some time during their conversation. "How did you know I'd say yes?"

"Because your eyes already told me yes, long before you did." Morgana said simply as she left the room.

End Chapter One