I can't believe how many people are reading this! Thanks guys!

Chapter Three

Will came home a couple days later and the two made up. Though Merlin felt that things had changed between the two of them and he wasn't sure if things would ever be quite right again. Merlin tried to spend as much time with Will as he could, but Will was spending more and more time at his girlfriend's place and when he wasn't there, he was at work or Merlin was at work. So the distance between them continued to grow and Merlin tried to force it from his thoughts as much as he could.

Instead, he continued to work, slaving away for Arthur. After two months working for Camelot Inc, Merlin thought he had finally figured out the various clicks that operated in the company. There were the usual inner department clicks but there were also the inter-department clicks. All the secretaries were close friends and to get on the bad side of one was to get on the wrong side of all of them and though they were secretaries, they held a surprising amount of power and could make your life a living hell. Merlin made sure that he always greeted them all with a grin and more often than not, he brought them treats from Anita's and they were all quickly in love with him. Then there was the marketing click, they were all a bit snobbish in Merlin's opinion, but as long as he complimented them on their new pieces of fashion and their work, they were good to him. The financial clicks were a bit more difficult for Merlin to get in good graces with but once he discovered that several of them were serious fans of Doctor Who and all things BBC, his relationship was permanently in good standing with them. Fitting in with the legal crowd was easy as they were the type of crowd that Merlin often found himself surrounded by at school and they were also the few people who actually respected his opinion and acknowledged him for abilities. Gaius was everyone's father and friend and Merlin grew rather attached to the old man. He was quirky and weird but he had a wicked sense of humor and provided Merlin with endless stories of Arthur as a kid. Merlin tried to visit the man once a week, always baring goodies from Anita's and spending an hour listening to stories. The biggest click though was the 'Royal Court' or so everyone else had named them. They were the heads of the various departments and Merlin found himself spending a great deal of time with them due to working for Arthur. Morgana and Arthur were the Princess and Prince of Camelot and Lance, Leon and Percy were the knights of Camelot. Uther was king and Morgause and Nimueh were advisors to the king. In reality, Morgause and Nimueh were only shareholders who sat on the board of directors and had very little to do with the daily life at Camelot. Merlin only had occasion to meet them once in the two months he had been there and that was more than enough for him. They were leaches of the corporate world, vultures that fed off the poor and sucked the life out of individuality and everything else that Merlin despised about the corporate world.

There were also the clients that Merlin had the pleasure, and displeasure, of meeting. His favorite though had been Gwen Smith, the owner of The Little Custom Shoe. They had immediate hit it off and even after the deal went through, they stayed in touch. On the rare occasions that Merlin managed to actually get a lunch break, they would meet up or if Merlin was able to get off work at a decent hour they would go for dinner. Gwen was a sweet woman, with big dreams for her business but like Merlin, she had a small, simple life and came from a life of poverty. She was like a piece of home for Merlin, a small part that kept him tied to his past and he was grateful for her, even if he never shared anything personal with her.

Despite being on friendly terms with nearly everyone at work, Merlin hadn't managed to make many close friends. In fact, Gwen was the only person he could really consider his friend and even that was a lot more one-sided (on Gwen's part) for Merlin to really count it as someone he could confide in. So when Lance stopped by Arthur's office, Merlin was surprised to be invited out for drinks with them that evening. He was still debating going when Arthur released him for the night and he ran into Lance in the hallway.

"So you coming tonight?" Lance asked, grinning at Merlin and walking into the elevator with him.

"Um," Merlin looked over at him and shrugged, "sure, why not!"

"Excellent! Don't worry, Arthur and Morgana have dinner with Uther tonight, so it'll just be us lowly servants." He said with a cheeky smile and Merlin couldn't help but grin. A night off of Arthur, it had been the first in weeks. Merlin sent Will a text, telling him he was going out for drinks and that he was welcome to come. He wasn't surprised though that he didn't get a response back.

"So Merlin," Leon said as he sat down, setting the pitcher of beer on the table, "are you ready to kill Arthur yet?"

"I was ready on my first day!" Merlin said and the group of men laughed.

"Yea, Arthur is a real piece of work," Lance said, chuckling as he poured Merlin a pint.

"Blimey, he's exhausting! Honestly, I have no idea how he's managed to survive this long." Merlin joked, happy to be able to complain about Arthur without it starting a fight.

"No idea," Leon shook his head, "I think you're the longest lasting assistant yet."

"Seriously?!" Merlin gaped at them in horror as they nodded.

"Honestly, I think before you was Hilda and she only lasted a month." Lance said, "He always drives them away."

"Well I'm glad I'm not the only one he's particularly cruel to!"

"Hell no, and I don't think he's ever had an assistant with a mouth like yours," Leon added and Merlin blushed slightly.

"No one ever talks back to Arthur," Percy said, having kept quiet for most of the conversation, "everyone's always been afraid he's so much like Uther that they won't ever say anything bad about him."

"I've heard Uther has a bit of a reputation for firing people," Merlin said, a bit curious to learn more about the man everyone compared Arthur to.

"He fires more people than he has on staff most of the time," Lance said, his voice having dropped considerably in volume as if Uther would still manage to over hear them somehow.

"Why?" Merlin asked, sipping his beer.

"Uther is terrified of corporate espionage so every time an employee botches something up, he accuses them of doing it on purpose and fires them."

"Really?" Merlin couldn't help but laugh, "crikey, I knew he was crazy but I didn't think he was that nuts!" The others laughed.

"Yea, well, he is a bit mad." Leon pointed out, "but still, you have to admit he's damn good at what he does." They nodded in agreement.

"Arthur seems a bit different though," Merlin piped up, unsure of the topic. Though they were in the same circle as Arthur at work, he wasn't sure how they actually felt about him.

"Arthur is completely different than Uther," Leon said, and immediately Merlin could see the loyalty. He was one of their own and even though they would tease him and joke about his inability to keep an assistant, this was the person they stood behind.

"Seems that way," he offered and he noticed that the others seemed to relax a bit, as if they were prepared to defend him should Merlin say anything truly bad about him. "So do you all know each other from work or is there a bit of history?" He asked, wanting to get to know these people better.

"I went to college with Arthur," Leon said, "our families have been friends before either of us was born so we grew up with each other. He's like a brother." That explained Leon's furious loyalty to him, Merlin thought.

"And you guys?"

"I met Arthur at work after I got hired," Lance said, "No history there, we just ended up being friends. It's hard not to be when you're the boss and the only other people willing to actually have a conversation with you are the other bosses."

"True," Merlin nodded, "I can't imagine it's very easy to get close to anyone at work. What about you Percy?"

"I met Arthur through a mutual friend a few years ago; he got me the job at Camelot." Percy said, finishing off his beer and waving the waitress down for another pitcher.

"How are you finding it Merlin? People at the office seem to like you," Lance asked.

"Yea, it's alright. It's been interesting. Honestly I didn't think I would enjoy it very much, Camelot Inc has a bit of a reputation that I was hoping not to associate myself with." Merlin said honestly, "but having worked there now for a little bit, I think it's a bit misrepresented. I grew up in a small town though, that survived on local businesses and when large companies took over it kind of killed it, so I guess I was a bit biased."

"Yea, most people don't see the good that we do; they just see the large corporate banner and paint us as evil." Lance said and Merlin nodded, that was really all too true.

"Yea," Merlin sighed, "my friend Will is one of those people. I'm not sure if he'll ever forgive me for working at Camelot."

"If he's really your friend, he won't care who you work for, as long as you're still true to who you are." Lance reassured and Merlin smiled weakly.

"I think he thinks that I've changed." Merlin said gently and looked at Lance, desperate for some kind of reassurance that he wasn't selling his soul to Arthur. He hadn't talked to anyone about his relationship with Will, he and Gwen mostly talked about frivolous stuff or about her dad but they stayed away from Merlin's personal life. He hadn't had anyone to talk to in such a long time that he craved it now. Sensing that the topic was reaching a bit personal, Percy challenged Leon to a game of darts and the two went off, smack talking each other loudly.

"How does he think you've changed?" Lance asked once the other two were gone, looking at Merlin kindly.

"I don't know, honestly. He thinks I'm being brainwashed," Merlin said and Lance chuckled.

"Starting to see things a little less black and white?"

"You could say that," Merlin leaned back in his chair and played with the coaster from his beer. "There's history there with Camelot and Will and I understand why he can't forgive Uther or Arthur but he knows me, he knows I would never do anything to hurt him. Still though, he won't let go of the fact that I've agreed to work here and especially directly for Arthur."

Lance put his hand on Merlin's shoulder reassuringly, "he will come around Merlin, he probably just needs some time. Be patient with him."

"Thanks," Merlin smiled over at Lance and blushed, "sorry, I didn't mean to get all Debbie downer!"

"No worries Merlin! I only hope that I've been able to offer you some comfort," he said with a kind smile.

"You did Lance."

"If you ever want to get together for lunch, my door is always open. I know Arthur can be cruel but I think he actually enjoys having you around, still he doesn't make for the greatest listener, so if you ever have need to talk or anything, you find me." Lance offered and Merlin grinned. Normally if someone made such an offer, he would think that they were only saying it to be nice but Merlin could tell that Lance was sincere. He genuinely cared about Merlin and Merlin was grateful to finally have someone he trust and talk to.

"Thanks. Should we see if Leon has injured Percy with the darts?" Merlin asked, grinning and Lance grinned back.

"Absolutely. I wouldn't trust Leon with a dart if my life depended on it!"

Merlin spent the rest of the night laughing and joking around with the boys, truly enjoying himself. There was an endless amount of teasing of Arthur and Merlin and Merlin was quick to turn it around to tease the others. By the end of the night, they all patted Merlin on the back as they sent him in a cab, and Merlin smiled himself, feeling like a part of the group. He wasn't sure how long it would last, if once at work they would ignore him, but regardless, he was grateful for a night of fun.

Kilgharrah: I'm struggling with chapter four a bit. I don't want to dwell so much on every day life and I want to get the story moving a bit, but there are a few major plot points that I need to put into play before I can add the parts that I've already written. So next chapter might not be up for a day or two while I sort it out! Thanks again though everyone for reading! much appreciated!