A/N: Thank you leyapearl, GuestM, Buckhunter, and SnidgetHex for reviewing the last episode! I'm glad you're enjoying this verse. ^_^

Chapter 1

Arthur made his way into Gwen's auto shop, scanning the garage for her. "Hello," he called to announce himself and not startle her in case she was under a chassis.

Gwen emerged from the back office, frizzy hair pulled up in a braid around the crown of her head. "Arthur, hi." She quirked a teasing smile at him. "Need to borrow my car again?"

He grinned back. "No. My bike's making this weird sound. Thought you could take a look at it?" He cocked his head outside where he'd parked his motorcycle.

Gwen gave him an odd look but followed him outside where he started up the engine so she could take a listen.

"See? Right there," he said at the hiccoughing in the rumble.

Gwen popped the seat cushion up and reached inside. "Your filter needs to be changed." She put her hands on her hips as she regarded him. "I know you know how to change the filter of your own bike."

Arthur faltered. "Oh, well, yeah, of course I do. I just thought, to be safe. You are the professional mechanic, after all."

Gwen's lips twitched upward as though she saw right through him, but she nevertheless waved for him to bring the bike inside the garage. He grabbed the handlebars and kicked up the stand, then pushed it in. Gwen grabbed a clean filter from her supply rack and unwrapped it.

"So," Arthur said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and rocking on the balls of his feet. "What's new?"

"Not much," Gwen replied as she deftly changed the filter. "You?"

"Not much."

That damn awkward silence fell between them again. Arthur roved his gaze around the garage to cover it up and spotted a run-down bike against the wall with paint tools laid out on a plastic sheet beside it. Curious, he walked over. There was a red rose with thorns around a dagger painted on the chrome, shining in places where it was finished but still needing some spots filled in.

"Did you do this?" Arthur asked.

"It's just a hobby," Gwen replied.

"It's amazing work." He frowned as he looked over the bike. "This thing isn't running."

"Because it's scrap metal at the moment. I was just playing with some design ideas. It's nothing, really."

"It's not nothing," Arthur insisted. "This is professional level work. How come I didn't know you could do this kind of detail?"

Gwen blushed at the compliment and shrugged self-consciously.

"Are you going to fix it up? It'd be a shame to waste this art on something you can't ride around town and show off."

Gwen shrugged again. "Maybe, when I have free time."

"Maybe we could work on it together?" Arthur tentatively suggested. "Could be fun."

Gwen looked equally tentative as she gave a nervous smile in return. "Sure," she said. "It would be fun."

Arthur grinned.

Gwen was beaming after Arthur's visit, even though she tried to stop herself. He was her brother's boss, of sorts, and the leader of a prominent biker gang. But more than that, he came from wealth and higher education; she was just a poor mechanic. What could he possibly see in her? Yet he kept coming by, and his awkward attempts at conversation were adorable in an endearing, dorky kind of way. No, beneath the exterior, he was a good, honorable man, brave and kind. He stood up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves. And Gwen did have feelings for him.

The rumble of multiple motorcycles coming up the street reverberated through the air like thunder, and Gwen paused in her work, wondering if Arthur's Knights were making a stop for some reason. But it wasn't them. Her good mood was instantly doused as Cenred and his cronies rode up to her garage and stopped just outside. They were part of another biker gang, one far less scrupulous than the Pendragon's Knights.

They killed their engines, but only Cenred dismounted and sauntered in.

"Guinevere," he greeted with false joviality. "You're looking lovely as always."

She crossed her arms over her chest defensively and said in a hard tone, "Unless you've brought business, there's no loitering here."

Cenred smirked. "My dear Guinevere, I have brought business. See, I've got some merchandise I need to redistribute, and I need a work space to get it done."

Gwen narrowed her eyes. "You mean a chop shop."

He shrugged one shoulder.

"No," she snapped.

"Now is that any way to speak to a benevolent benefactor?"

"You are neither of those things."

Cenred's genial expression shifted slightly, revealing a hard flint. "I advise you to reconsider." Then that fake smile was back on. "I'll see you around, Guinevere."

He strode back to his bike and they all started their engines again, rattling Gwen's eardrums as they revved them hard before riding off, leaving the acrid odor of burnt fuel in their wake.

She hugged herself more tightly, knowing this wasn't over.

Lancelot stood in a backyard decorated with balloons and streamers, watching Merlin perform magic tricks for a bunch of pre-teens. It was one of the Knights' former protectee's birthdays and they'd been invited. Merlin, of course, volunteered to be the entertainment, as he took every opportunity he could to show off his street magician skills.

He was currently juggling three metal rings, which seemed unimpressive, until suddenly they were all linked and he was still spinning them up and down and around in perfect synchronicity. The kids were captivated. Merlin finished by unlinking all the rings in the blink of an eye, then gave a flourished bow. The kids clapped, as did Lance and Percival. The whole gang couldn't make it, but the three of them were enough to represent. And the kids were impressed with the tough bikers, something the birthday boy, Landon, kept lapping up as an "official member" of the Pendragon's Knights himself. It was rewarding to see him growing into a lively and confident kid after what he'd been through.

Landon darted over to Lancelot and Percival. "Time for cake!"

The Knights grinned and gathered around the picnic table with everyone else as his aunt brought out the cake lit with candles. Its frosting was bright red with the Cars character on top. Landon took in a deep breath and blew out the candles. Then his aunt started cutting the cake and handing out slices. Lancelot shook his head politely when she offered one to him.

"You don't want cake?" Landon asked.

"I have diabetes, remember," Lance replied.

"Oh, so you can't have sugar."

Lancelot didn't correct him. It wasn't that he couldn't have sugar; it was that he had no way of knowing the exact carb count in that cake without either a nutrition label or adding up all the individual ingredients himself and dividing them among equal serving sizes. Information he did not have, and guessing ran too much of a risk he just wasn't willing to take today.

It was okay, though; he was used to it.

The party went on for another hour, and Merlin performed more magic tricks after the cake had been eaten. He poured some punch into a glass, and then with a flick of his wrist, pulled out a pink handkerchief instead. Lancelot shook his head in amazement. He had no idea how he did that stuff, and Merlin refused to tell them. It made him happy, seeing the wonder in his audience's eyes, and that made Lancelot happy.

Once the party was wrapping up and the kids' parents were coming to pick them up, the Knights stayed to help with the cleanup.

"You really don't have to," Landon's aunt told them.

"We really don't mind," Merlin replied.

She smiled appreciatively and started taking dishes inside.

"Um, excuse me?" a tentative voice spoke up.

Lancelot turned toward a woman standing behind them, both arms clutching the purse slung over one shoulder like a shield.

"Hi," he said.

"Um, I'm Jake's mom," she said, shifting nervously. "Laura."

"Okay, hi," Lance said again, placing the boy who was still over with Landon admiring his birthday presents.

The woman bit her lip. "I heard how you helped Landon, and I was wondering…if…if you could help me."

Merlin and Percival stepped closer.

"Is someone hurting you and your son?" Merlin asked.

"Um, not exactly." Laura flicked a look at Jake, then back at them. "Someone's been stalking me. I don't know who they are, but there have been notes left on my doorstep. They were just weird love notes at first, but they're getting more intense. I've tried going to the police, but without anyone to identify, they said they can't do anything. Plus, nothing has reached 'an actionable threat level.'" Her chin quivered with barely concealed terror. "Please, I know this isn't really your area, but I'm scared for me and my son. My husband is overseas and won't finish his tour for another six months."

"He's Army?" Percival asked.

"Air Force."

"We'll help," he said without hesitation. As an ex Army Ranger, Percy had a soft spot for military wives. "How long has this been going on?"

"Five months," she said tremulously.

That was a long time to be dealing with that kind of stress.

"And no idea who it might be?" Merlin asked. "Someone you know?"

Laura shook her head. "The cops asked me the same thing, but no one at work or Jake's school raises any red flags. They- they said it could be a stranger, someone I smiled at in the grocery store. What am I supposed to do about that?"

"It's not your fault," Lancelot said quickly. "We can follow you home and take a look at those letters."

Laura practically melted with obvious relief. "Thank you." She hesitated. "Um, I've been trying to keep this from Jake, but I suppose I'll need to explain things now."

"I can help you with that," Lancelot offered.

"And we'll finish cleaning up," Merlin said.

Laura nodded again gratefully. "Jake," she called. "It's time to go."

He said goodbye to Landon and made his way over.

"Hi, Jake, I'm Lancelot."

The kid nodded, casting a guarded look between Lance and his mother.

"These men are going to be coming to the house," Laura said.

"Is this about the letters you don't want me to see?"

Laura looked surprised, but Lancelot wasn't. Kids knew more than they let on, and parents under stress didn't hide things as well as they thought they did.

"We just want to make sure you and your mom don't have any problems," Lancelot said.

"Are we in danger?"

"No, honey," Laura immediately replied, but Lancelot held up a staying hand.

"We don't know yet. But either way, you've got Knights watching your back."

Lancelot walked them out to their car, then started up his bike and waited for Merlin and Percival to join them. Once they were all ready, they headed out.

Laura and Jake lived only ten minutes away in a single story house with an open front yard framed on one side with large hedges. She pulled her car into the driveway and the Knights rode in behind her.

"Oh no," she said immediately upon getting out of the car.

Lancelot followed her gaze to where a red envelope was taped to her front door. He went over to retrieve it. No postage, so whoever this loon was, they were hand delivering these.

Lancelot ripped open the envelope and pulled out the note written on the same colored paper.

"You looked beautiful with your hair down yesterday. You should wear it down more often."

Merlin and Percival read the missive over his shoulder.

"I can see why the cops don't care," Merlin said. "It'd be sweet if it wasn't anonymous."

Or if this was middle school, Lancelot thought, where anonymous love notes could be acceptable.

"What does it say?" Laura asked tremulously.

"Nothing special," Lancelot replied. "You can read it if you want, but you don't need to. What about the others?"

She gave a shaky nod and unlocked the front door to let them inside. "Jake, go to your room."

"I want to know what's going on," he argued.

"Jake, not now."

"Jake," Lancelot interjected. "We'll keep you in the loop for the important things, okay?"

The kid grudgingly stormed down the hall.

Laura opened a kitchen drawer and lifted out a stack of small envelopes and notecards. Lancelot shared a look with Merlin and Percival at the sheer number. This definitely went beyond cute.

They each took a handful and began to read them. Like Laura had said, they were mostly innocuous: compliments on what she was wearing, professions that her smile brightened up the day. But they weren't signed and they gradually started including very specific details, proving this guy was watching Laura.

"I'm not making a big deal out of nothing, am I?" she asked.

"You're not," Percival assured her. "And we're going to set up a protection detail to watch you and Jake until we catch this lunatic."

"I'll fill the others in," Merlin said and pulled out his phone to call Arthur.

Laura hugged herself, looking both relieved and frightened to have her fears validated. But she wasn't going to have to keep dealing with this on her own; she had Knights on her side.