Authors Note: Hello! Hope you're all well...Reviews for this chapter are especially welcome! Big chapter for everyone! Thank you for sticking around, hope this is good!

Chapter 3: Does Fate Have a Sense of Humour?

Arthur stopped when he walked in and Merlin swore it was like one of those bloody rom coms Gwen forced him to watch. Time seemed to stop as he took off his sunglasses and ran a hand through his slightly tousled blonde hair. His strong fingers tucked the Ray Bans into a breast pocket and he surveyed the first floor with a calculating gaze. When he finally stepped forward after a moment the lobby took a collective breath and the world once again began to turn. Arthur strode over to Merlin's quiet corner desk with an air of confidence and perched on the corner of the desk, not bothering to look down at the raven haired man. As he scooted back a bit to sit comfortably he knocked a stack of papers over which Merlin caught and moved, pursing his lips. Arthur didn't even look at him,

"I want a sandwich, just my usual order you know, no pickle. Also, I want Starbucks. A venti, no foam skim vanilla latte with an extra shot, piping hot and not too sweet with an almond biscotti - I don't want it broken either. Have it in my office in ten." And with that he stood as Merlin gaped in astonishment. At least he wasn't unfounded in his assumptions that Arthur's character, even after a few years, had not changed.

"Please?" With that Arthur paused, the voice sounded familiar...and when he turned around he knew why.

"You."

"Please and thank you go a long way in the world," Merlin said casually. "But I'll have it on your desk in twenty." He said cooly, getting his coat. This certainly wasn't secondary school anymore and as much as he wanted to call him a brat, he needed this job.

"Marvin."

"Merlin."

"Whatever, Merlin." he replied, as the young man in front of him spun on his heel and headed out the door. Arthur couldn't help as his eyes travelled down, taking in the slight curve of Merlin's pinstripe trousers. He'd grown up, but with that attitude he certainly hadn't changed. And Arthur didn't know how to feel about that.

""""""""""""""

"He's horrible."

"Really Merlin, he can't be that bad." Leon tried to comfort as Gwen shooed him away, wrapping an arm around Merlin's slumped shoulders.

"He's spoiled, but really, he is a very smart..."

"Arrogant."

"Hard working..."

"Idiot."

"Come on mate, buck up, it's Friday tomorrow and you'll be done." Gwaine commented from his stool across the table from Merlin. Tossing his hair back, he grinned as Percival nodded. "Then Princess Arthur can fetch his own bloody toastie."

It had been an insufferable week. Arthur was now accompanying Uther in his daily appointments to gain a better understanding of the company he would be inheriting. The last few days had been torture for Merlin. While Arthur didn't go expressly out of his way to annoy him, he certainly didn't make his life easy, and Merlin had looked so murderous after Arthur's last round of unjustified criticism that Gwen had recommended they all go to the pub tonight. Gwaine, who had started working there as security shortly after Merlin was hired, was more than happy to accompany them. He had known Arthur in school and had even dated his half-sister, Morgana for a time. They were mates, mostly, and Gwaine didn't conceal his attitudes on Arthur's behaviour most of the time.

"You're right, I won't let him get to me."

"That's the spirit!"

"See Merlin, you can do it." Leon raised a glass and the four of them toasted. When Leon turned to Percival and began talking, Gwen joined in and left Merlin and Gwaine to themselves.

"You doing okay mate?" Merlin looked up, meeting Gwaine's gaze which was angled down at him inquisitively.

"Yeah, I just, all this with Arthur. Bloody clot pole." He muttered, downing a nearly full pint of cider. "So Gwaine, how did you end up in the castle?"

"I knew Arthur at Uni, and we were pretty good mates. He and I got along well enough, so we got a group together," He nodded towards Leon and Percival, and moved his stool around closer to Merlin, "And played footie on the weekends."

"What were you reading?"

"Global communications, or some bollocks like that."

"What happened to it?" Merlin asked, leaning forward and propping his spinning head on his hand.

"Not for me mate! Dated for a while but I wasn't ready to be tied down to anything." He wriggled his eyebrows as Merlin giggled, "I took off to Spain and France for the last two years, mostly, but I've been about."

"You just, left?" Though he wouldn't admit it, sometimes Merlin wanted more than anything to just slough off his responsibilities and go to the continent for something, anything new.

"I would just go and see if I could find work, under the table, and settle down until I started itching to go again."

"That's brilliant Gwaine."

"It was great, but I needed to come back to England for awhile, people in Barcelona were much too cheery so I came back to see some Brits." Gwaine winked at Merlin, "So I rang Arthur and he helped me get the job."

"I guess Arthur isn't so bad."

"You shouldn't worry so much about Arthur." Gwaine leaned in a bit as Merlin blinked up at him tiredly.

"Why not?"

"Because you're..." But at that moment Merlin's elbow slipped and he lost his balance on the stool. He swung his arm around and caught the table, nearly knocking over the empty bottles of Kopparberg. He had finished three already and he was definitely feeling it. He began to talk, rambling on in his alcohol induced haze.

"He just thinks he owns everything because he's so rich, and well, he doesn't and it's not fair to anyone."

"Nope."

"He orders everyone around."

"Always."

"And it's just not nice, he made a girl cry for getting his coffee order wrong."

"He's our Princess."

"Well, I refuse to let him effect me like this. He doesn't own me."

"He wouldn't be so lucky..." Gwaine smiled at his drunk companion, putting an arm around his shoulder and ruffling his hair playfully. He hadn't known Merlin for long, but he already liked the compassionate young man. He just had a sense of caring about him, something that always made him stand up for the down trodden, that Gwaine truly admired. "Don't let him get to you, it's same old Arthur, just let him be. You'll be doing something better soon enough my friend, or at least the novelty of bossing you around will wear off."

"I think," Merlin stated, trailing off at the end to ponder. "You're right, and also...that I'm drunk." He announced, getting up onto unsteady feet. Gwaine grabbed his shoulder to make sure he didn't fall and pressed him gently back to his seat, ordering another round. He moved a lock of hair behind Merlin's ear, letting his rough fingers run down his angled cheek bone before dropping back to his lap with a shake of his head. Anyways, he thought, it wasn't his job to be the responsible one, that was Gwen's deal. And seeing as she was deep in conversation with Leon it was Gwaine's responsibility to make sure the man got enough alcohol in him to forget his troubles. Draping his arm across Merlin's shoulders again, Gwaine clinked his pint against Merlin's

"I think you and I are going to be good friends."

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The first word out of Merlin's mouth that morning was something relatively unsavoury directed at the sunlight streaming through the window on the wall. The first thought that ran through his mind was how he was thankful he didn't have courses on Friday. And the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was not his apartment. Blinking, he tried to suss out the events of the previous night as he kneaded his forehead to try and stop the throbbing.

"Morning sunshine." Gwen said cheerfully as she walked into the living room, going into the kitchen and fetching a glass from the cupboard.

"Mornin'?" Merlin replied around a sour tongue, glad that he was at least on the couch of someone he knew. He'd never woken up on a strangers couch and he wasn't planning on starting now.

"How do you feel?"

"How do you think."

"Like you drank too much cider and should have quit when I told you?" She smiled, coming over and holding out two tablets of Paracetemol and a glass of water.

"Thank you Gwen..."

"Don't thank me, Gwaine nearly carried you up here." Her eyes were sparkling as she sat down, toying with her braid as Merlin nearly choked on his water.

"He what?"

"Well I think he felt guilty, well actually not guilty. But at least responsible, well, almost proudly so really...Anyways, he was the one that kept ordering rounds so he decided to help you to my place."

"That was nice of him." Merlin flushed to the tips of his ears.

"You thought so last night too. You kept telling him thank you and that he had beautiful eyes."

"I did not!" He winced, looking at her with a horrified face.

"You did."

"Oh god..."

"Come on, get up, it's ten and we have to be to work by twelve. I think you'll have to go back to your place for clothes though, I only have some of your casual stuff." She replied, looking back towards the bedroom. Merlin's apartment was a disaster, the heater had a habit of going out and sometimes the bathroom would flood. Gwen was a saint, always letting him use her couch.

"Did I really tell him he had beautiful eyes?" Merlin could not believe it, he'd made it a habit of not hitting on attractive straight men, but it seems that went out the window when he got drunk. Unless Gwen was taking the piss, but she usually couldn't hide it for that long.

"If you're worried about saying that I won't tell you what else you said..."

"Gwen!"

"Oh Merlin, I wouldn't tease you about it if he was upset, you know that right?"

"I suppose."

"You can ask him your self in oh," she looked at the clock, "Two hours." Giggling, she ducked back into her bedroom before Merlin could lob a badly aimed pillow towards her.

It was a beautifully sunny day for October in England, but Merlin really couldn't appreciate the fact as he shielded his aching eyes and tried to block out the overwhelming noise of the street. Gwen pat his head not so sympathetically, and lead him into Camelot.

"Take another two during tea," She said, handing him the blister pack of pain killers, "And you'll feel better in no time. You shouldn't have had all that coffee."

"I needed the coffee."

"Make sure you keep drinking water then. The caffeine is going to dehydrate you and the alcohol already did a number on your hydration levels so..."

"Thank you mum." He smiled, kissed her cheek and walked in. Gwaine was standing just inside the door, smiling like an idiot as Merlin groaned.

"Merlin! Afternoon, how delicate are you today?" He asked, ruffling Merlin's hair and retracting his hand when he winced. "I am sorry my friend, but you'll be better double quick now that I'm here."

"I think you're the reason I feel like this in the first place."

"No, I'm the reason you felt so good last night." The way it came out Merlin couldn't help but blush, but Gwaine erupted in a fit of laughter, "Well you did say..."

"I don't want to know!" Merlin cried, trying to look scandalised but the smile that tugged on his lips was too much to ignore and he grinned at Gwaine.

"I do have pretty eyes though."

"Yes you do." Giggling, Merlin pat his arm, making the larger man smile, "Tea at 3pm, you'll be in the break room?"

"What would I do without it."

"Work?"

"Where's the fun in that." As Percival walked across the lobby towards the two, Gwaine winked at Merlin and turned back to his guard duty, looking much too serious. His day made infinitely better Merlin headed to his corner work station, hung up his coat, slid his ragged tote under the desk and took a deep breath. As he fiddled with his shirt, making sure it was tucked in and his dark blue neckerchief was neat, he glanced across the lobby at Gwaine.

He was talking to Percival, the other man more subtle in his emotions while Gwaine was all teeth and squinting eyes. His soft, chin length brown hair was perfectly groomed and shined when he shook his head with laughter and his facial hair gave him a rugged edge, even in his business suit. Merlin's heart pulled and he sat down quickly, trying to quell the feelings of attraction for the other man. He had dated Arthur's half sister for Gods sake, and after Merlin had gotten a glimpse of her in the office he was under the notion that she was the stereotypical woman. All curves, curls and beauty. He shook his head, running a hand through his perpetually messy hair before turning to his work. For the next two hours he sorted through emails, invoices and sticky notes left from the morning receptionist, typing up a neat bullet list of correspondence. Every once in awhile he would look up and see Gwaine talking to a fellow employee, or directing a client. But when he was done he'd look straight to Merlin's desk and smile, winking as Merlin would stutter and turn back to his work.

Merlin stood when Uther walked through the door, handed him the file folder as he did everyday at two, and sat down relieved when Arthur hadn't followed him in. Turning back to the papers he was sorting for Leon, his thoughts were rudely interrupted by a prep school accent,

"Dumbo." Gritting his teeth Merlin looked up through his eyelashes. Arthur was sat on the corner of his desk (which Merlin now kept devoid of papers) sipping a Starbucks coffee. He quirked an eyebrow,

"Your highness? I see that you managed to get your own coffee today."

"Merlin. I feel like I've told you this before..." Arthur trailed off, setting his coffee cup in the middle of what Merlin was looking at and raised his hand to his chin, thinking. "But, you actually can't talk to me like you would your normal peasantry. You work for me now."

"That would mean I shouldn't talk to you like that, but sometimes I think it would do your inflated ego a bit of good." Merlin bit out, letting his earlier frustrations come through. He regretted his lack of self control but it was true in school and it was still true now: No one stood up to Arthur and since they allowed him to get away with whatever he pleased he didn't learn the common decencies of treating people with respect or dignity. And while Merlin could give as good as he got, some people couldn't.

This all frustrated Arthur to absolutely no end sometimes. He could have Merlin fired at any time, but for some reason he chose not to. Merlin presented a challenge, and not that it was something he'd be quick to admit, but he enjoyed it. His life was always one large schedule. Get up at seven, get ready for work, meet his father and sit through endless meetings and budget proposals and client meetings. It was all scheduled, every second of it, but Merlin refused to fit neatly into his calendar, he was more like an unexpected storm. Arthur was never sure what he was going to get on any given day, but it was never the usual respect and adoration he received from the other secretaries. It never had been, even back in school when everyone else was more than happy to give him whatever he wanted, Merlin had gone out of his way to point out his shortcomings. But it didn't matter now, because Merlin was still on the bottom rung and Arthur could call the shots. At least, he liked to think so. Merlin was simply a challenge for Arthur, a challenge with ridiculously large ears that he could destroy when he got bored. But until then...

"Someone obviously never taught you a lesson about respecting your superiors."

"Last time I checked, the definition of superior included something about a higher quality, not just status."

"Oh Merlin, you will never learn." Arthur said, grinning down wolfishly at the man, causing him to shiver. The look distracted him and he didn't notice the way Arthur rocked the desk as he got up with an exaggerated flourish. The wooden desk rocked as the contents of the coffee cup sloshed forward, causing it to fall onto its side. The lid popped off and hot coffee poured over the papers and splattered into Merlin lap.

Yelping he dove out of his seat, hitting the desk and knocking over a stack of paperwork as he tried to escape the heat of the coffee. Snatching up the cup he righted it before any more spilled and grabbed the papers, burning his finger tips as he tried to get everything out of the way. At that moment Gwaine appeared in front of him, pushing Arthur out of the way slightly to help.

"Here I've got it, you're going to burn your hands." He said, snagging napkins out of the desk drawer and putting it over the flood of coffee.

"It's okay." Merlin shook his hands, his fingertips red. At least the majority had gotten on the desk and floor, and not on his pants, but half the paperwork from the file he was working on was now ruined. Looking up he met Arthur's eyes, he was livid.

"You did that on purpose you prat."

"Merlin." Gwaine warned, mopping up the coffee.

"How dare you accuse me of doing something like that."

"Arthur." Gwaine turned on his friend, looking at him at eye level. His shoulders were squared, and Arthur was surprised at the seriousness on his mate's face. Looking past him he saw Merlin sucking on his burned finger tips and felt a pang of guilt that was beginning to turn into jealousy as Gwaine turned and gently took Merlin's hand and inspected it. "Go run it under the tap and clean yourself up, I'll take care of this."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah Merlin." He said, putting a hand on his shoulder that Arthur for some inexplicable reason wanted nothing more than to yank away. Before he could think about his emotions, Arthur turned and marched off to the elevator and his office, he had a meeting to attend to, not this nonsense. As he walked away Gwaine spared a kind smile to Merlin and nodded his head in the direction of the loo, "Go on."

With a sigh Merlin headed to the break room's kitchen instead. He might as well take the pain relievers now since he wouldn't have time for tea with half the paperwork he had done destroyed. Pushing the handle for cold water, he stuck his reddening finger tips under the stream of cold water, hissing at the sensation. He was so angry, he knew that Arthur had done it on purpose, and it simply wasn't right.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Gwen..."

"I'm sure he didn't mean to do it on purpose."

"Gwen, you and I both know that he did, so I'll just put it on my list of reason's to work harder at Uni so I can get a better job than this." He smiled weakly, his anger waning as she carefully probed his finger tips, looking at them with the caring eyes of a future nurse.

"How do they feel?"

"It's not too bad really, it was just the initial pain, I think I'll be able to go on." He grinned as she shook her head.

"Gwaine said it ruined the paperwork?"

"Mmmhm." He turned and dried his hands on a towel, wetting the corner and dabbing at a few of the spots on his trousers. Thank goodness they were black and would fade.

"I'll ask Leon to print them out again."

"Thank you Gwen. I better get back out there before I have a thousand calls backed up." Gwen walked off to get the duplicates from Leon and Merlin returned, laughing when he saw Gwaine lounging in his chair.

"Get out of there!"

"Why? This is more comfortable then standing by the door all day."

"You cabbage head," he laughed, tugging on Gwaine's sleeve. A few of the other employees looked over at them but said nothing, Merlin was one of the nicest people there, they certainly weren't going to reprimand him when he was out of earshot of the main lobby anyways. "You have the most important job, Sir Gwaine, you protect the castle walls." He chided as Gwaine rose, relinquishing the seat to Merlin with a glint in his eye,

"Then I return to my post, in honour of my fair maiden, Merlin." He bowed, taking Merlin's hand and pressing his lips gently to the top of his knuckles. Still bowed he looked up through his fringe, smiling at the blush he saw on Merlin's ears. Letting go, he turned and walked back to the front door as Uther, Arthur and his associates came down to conduct a meeting in one of the large conference rooms.

Merlin was too distracted by the way Gwaine had acted to even bother seeing Arthur as he milled about the furnished waiting area at the front of the building. He couldn't help but watch Gwaine as he helped the various men coming in for the meeting, mechanically sorting the upset papers as his mind spun. Gwaine had just kissed his hand, he wasn't exactly sure what to think.

Arthur on the other hand was staring intently at Merlin, annoyed to no end that the target of his gaze was staring at Gwaine. It wasn't his fault he spilled his coffee, Merlin has provoked him with his insubordinate behaviour. And Arthur refused to feel bad about it, rather, he would feel angry. Merlin caused such a swell of emotion within him that he couldn't stand it, part of him maybe tormenting Merlin in some vague hope that the boy would quit and once again leave his life. He hadn't had to think about what happened between them when he was in sixth form. A few glorious years of living the high life at Uni with barely any parental supervision and funds to spare had done him good. Watching Merlin now though, it was so much different. Yes, he was still clumsy as he had ever been, tripping over the same rise in the carpet every day and laughing it off with the same smile and wave. The smile was definitely the same, Arthur always knew when it was coming, which was often, because his bottom lip would always tremble ever so slightly and the muscles in jaw would tighten just before the smile broke out across his features. He'd squint, and the laugh would make anyone in his general vicinity smile and laugh as well because he just had that effect on people.

But he didn't have that effect on Arthur, as far as the Pendragon was concerned. He didn't care about Merlin's goofy smile, he didn't like the way his ears turned red when he got upset, and he definitely didn't think he was oddly beautiful with his too long limbs and ill fitting business attire. No, Arthur didn't think any of those things. Merlin turned away from the man and tried to immerse himself in the business conversation around him

Merlin looked away from Gwaine to where Arthur was standing, watching him interact with his father and associates. His suit was grey, impeccably fit and not a thread out of order. On his hand was a signet ring, a dragon, that he would occasionally spin with his thumb when he was bored - now being one of those moments. Of course Arthur hadn't looked over to see of he was ok or if he had cleaned up the mess. Arthur didn't care about him, which was fine with Merlin, but he hoped that maybe the things he said to the man would make it through his thick skull and one day, perhaps one day he would care about someone. Hearing a raised voice, Merlin looked over to the door where Gwaine was talking to a woman who was obviously upset, her face tense. Percival had noticed the slight commotion and was headed over to make sure it was handled discreetly since Uther was there. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, Uther was a powerful man who seemed to have his hand in a bit of everything, leaving him with more than a few enemies. The two men could handle it, but for some reason Merlin's eye was drawn to a man walking towards Arthur and Uther and their pack of business types.

He was different somehow. His face was focused, his gait and shoulders tense and the way his right hand was held stiffly in his coat pocket looked as if he was holding something...And at that moment Merlin felt a wave of inexplicable panic flood through his body as he stood up. Gwaine and Percival were too busy with the woman to notice the man as he approached Arthur, beginning to smile. Merlin's mind screamed at everyone to look at him, but no one even turned and Merlin found himself running as the man pulled out a gun, levelling it at Arthur. It was as if time had slowed down and all Merlin could hear was the rush of blood in his ears.

Arthur turned as someone yelled, but he didn't have a chance to move before the man pulled the trigger. But a flash of black and dark blue crossed in front of him as the shot rang out, ricocheting up over his head and into the ceiling. And all of a sudden the silence was broken as a flood of noise washed over the lobby. The man, having realised that Merlin was the reason the gun was no longer in his hand, punched him viciously in the side of the head. Merlin was stunned, and as the world spun he felt a fist close around his neckerchief and slam him back into the marble floor. His neck snapped backwards as the back of his head met the floor with a sickening crack, and for a moment Merlin thought he saw Arthur swimming in the impending darkness. He was frozen in place, his face a mixture of surprise and fear.

Gwaine was across the lobby in no time. It had seemed like an eternity, but it had all happened in a few seconds and suddenly Gwaine's hands were grabbing the attacker and throwing him off of Merlin. Percival fought to pin him to the floor as Gwaine kneeled down and carefully caught Merlin's shoulder as the young man tried to roll over, waves of pain and nausea blinding him.

"Don't move Merlin, just stay awake, it's fine." Gwaine said, trying to keep his usually jovial voice steady as his heart pounded viciously against his chest. Merlin tried, but the darkness soon overwhelmed him.