A/N: Thank you Buckhunter, GuestM, and SnidgetHex for reviewing!

Chapter 2

Lancelot and Percival sat in some lawn chairs parked in Laura's front yard, playing cards in the illumination of the porch light to pass the time. Two bikers should definitely give the creep pause and keep him at bay for a bit. The problem was that unless he was caught, he might never stop with his obsession, and the Knights couldn't take up permanent residence in front of Laura's house. But in the short term, they could give her some peace of mind and figure out the long term later.

"Uno," Percival said, slapping a card down on the center pile.

Lancelot still had three in hand and debated which one to play next to keep Percival from winning.

Percival straightened, gaze sharpening at something. Lancelot twisted in his chair to look. The hedges behind him were dark, swallowing shadows into their crevices. Everything was still. Until something seemed to move between the bushes where they approached the front of the house.

Lancelot and Percival let their cards fall as they surged to their feet and cautiously began to approach the hedges. Someone bolted. They took off after him. Lancelot couldn't get a look at his features, as a hoodie was pulled up over his head. The figure barreled down the street and then ducked into an alley. Lancelot and Percival followed, almost losing sight of him as he vaulted a low fence into someone's backyard. The Knights didn't hesitate to trespass in their pursuit. But the unknown subject clearly knew the area better than them, and after two more twists and turns, Lance and Percy clamored out into an empty street. They spun in every direction, but there was no sign of their quarry. The guy had vanished.

With scowls of consternation, they headed back to the house. It took them a little while to get their bearings after that mad dash, and Lancelot hoped the stalker wouldn't double back while they were distracted. But the house was quiet when they arrived and they took a look around the perimeter. Behind the hedges where they'd first spotted the stalker, a note and a black rose lay on the ground where they'd evidently been dropped when the creep startled and ran.

Percival picked the note up and read it aloud. "I've made my affections known, Laura. Why haven't you left me any tokens of your love in return?"

"He's escalating," Lancelot said.

"Yeah." Percival's hand twitched, no doubt with the urge to crumple that note up, but it was evidence, and so he pocketed it and picked up the rose to carry back to their little camp. No need to tell Laura before the morning. He sent a text to their group thread alerting them to what happened.

Lancelot went to his bike and dug a bag of Skittles out from the tiny storage compartment in the seat. That sprint down several blocks was going to affect his blood sugar.

Elyan and Merlin were due to relieve Lance and Percival halfway through the night, but given how close the stalker had come, the two decided to stay until morning for when they'd need to have another conversation with Laura.

Arthur and the rest of the Knights arrived early, the rumble of their bikes no doubt disturbing the neighbors. Laura certainly noticed as she opened her front door, looking concerned.

"Can we come in?" Arthur asked.

She nodded and stepped back to allow them entrance. "Has there been a change?" she asked nervously as though they were going to say they couldn't help her after all.

"He was here last night," Percival said soberly and set the black rose on the kitchen counter.

Laura's face drained of color. "But you didn't catch him?"

"We tried. Chased him through the neighborhood, but he got away," Percy replied. "I'm sorry."

Laura nodded stiffly. "So what now?"

"Now we bump up your protection," Arthur answered. "You and Jake will have an escort to and from work and school, along with guards here while you're home. He won't get closer than he did last night."

She folded her arms across herself. "But you'll never catch him that way, will you?"

"He probably won't give up," Percival said. "Eventually he'll get bold, and we will catch him."

She nodded numbly now. "Jake's still asleep. I should get him up for school."

Arthur nodded, and while she did that, the Knights worked up a new duty schedule.

The raucous sound of motorcycles reverberated from outside, and Gwen went to the open garage door to look out. Her stomach knotted at the sight of Cenred and his gang riding up again. She'd known he wasn't going to give up easily.

"Before you kill your engines, let me tell you the answer is still no," Gwen said bravely.

Cenred arched a brow at her, then looked at his goons. They all shut off their engines and dismounted their bikes. Gwen reflexively took a step back into her garage. She should have closed the door, not that it would have gotten down and in place before they'd finished arriving.

"Bold words for a lone woman in your position," Cenred said. "A business arrangement would benefit you, you know."

"I will never agree to run a chop shop for you," she rejoined. "I wouldn't even get into a legitimate business with you, so stop coming around here."

Cenred's expression darkened. With a subtle cock of his head, his goons moved into her garage and started trashing it.

"Stop it!" Gwen cried, but they ignored her.

Tools clattered across the floor as their boxes were upended; someone ran their arm across her supply shelves, scattering everything to the floor. Gwen surged forward, but Cenred grabbed her. She struggled and tried to wriggle free, but he held fast as his thugs went through her garage, smashing everything in sight. When they were done, Cenred finally shoved Gwen away from him and she almost lost her balance and fell.

"Best play ball here, Guinevere," he told her and sauntered out with his men.

Gwen fought back tears as they mounted their bikes and rode off. She looked around the destruction in her shop, heart clenching. She could call the police…but vandalism wouldn't be much of a charge, and she didn't want to risk more of Cenred's ire. He owned this neighborhood, and she couldn't move. Not away from her childhood home and the shop that her father had built.

In resignation, she bent down to start picking things up. When the rumble of a bike came up the street, she flinched and whirled around, clutching a wrench to her chest defensively. But it was just one bike, and its rider was Arthur.

He killed his engine and dismounted swiftly, yanking his helmet off and looking around in alarm. "What happened?" he asked, jogging forward.

"It's nothing," Gwen murmured.

"It's not nothing. Who did this?" he demanded.

Gwen looked away. "Cenred and his cronies."

Arthur's eyes flashed with fury.

"Do not get involved," she said sharply. "Cenred's gang is dangerous."

"So am I," he said darkly.

"Yes, but you're not a thug, and I don't want you to stoop to his level. I'll deal with it."

"Why did they do this?"

Gwen shifted awkwardly. "He wants to use my place as a chop shop."

Arthur snorted. "And you said no."

"Of course I did. Twice. He didn't like it."

Arthur's jaw ticked, but he didn't say anything more and instead wordlessly started helping her clean up. Gwen didn't object to the help; there was a lot and this was going to eat into her business productivity. She went by the car she was currently fixing and sagged at the dent someone had banged into it. She'd have to hammer that out and hope she could get it back to its original shape so the owner wouldn't notice…

It took them a while, and they worked in silence, but they eventually got everything back in place. Everything except the last thing that'd been damaged—the bike she'd been painting. She watched Arthur lift it off the concrete and place it back on its kickstand; the paint work was scratched. Arthur looked at it morosely before turning to her.

"I had come by to say I can't start working on this with you yet; we have a person who needs our protection."

Gwen just nodded. She should probably just scrap the bike now anyway and start over on one that actually worked. "Thanks for your help. Um, don't tell Elyan about this."

Arthur straightened. "I am absolutely going to tell your brother. If Cenred is harassing you, you need protection."

"And what about the person you're already protecting?" she countered. "You can't split yourselves thin."

"You're important to me- us," he quickly corrected. "And we're not going to let you be bullied by that lowlife."

Gwen sighed, though she appreciated the support. She didn't know what she was going to do about Cenred, and it made her feel better knowing she wouldn't have to face it alone.

The Knights took turns guarding Laura and Jake. Only one would accompany each of them to work and school, while one would remain to watch the house and two would be stationed outside overnight. The stalker seemed to be keeping his distance, though now that he couldn't get close enough to leave his little love notes, someone had starting calling the house several times a day when Laura was home. Whoever it was wouldn't say anything, would just breathe for several moments before hanging up.

Laura opened the front door to look out at Leon and Gwaine who were currently on watch. "Dinner's ready. I made enough for you too."

"That's not necessary," Leon said.

"It's the least I can do," she insisted.

They were hungry and so relented, going inside to sit at the dinner table with Laura and Jake for lasagna. Small conversation was a little difficult, as Laura tried to ask how things were going with them, but they were investing a lot of time looking after her and her son, and since they were spending so much time watching them, asking how their day went was a little redundant.

The phone rang, and Laura went rigid, hands turning white around the casserole dish she was passing across the table.

Gwaine stood up so fast his chair scraped against the linoleum and he marched over to the phone, snatching it out of the cradle. "Hello."

Leon couldn't hear anything on the other end, but by the darkening look in Gwaine's eyes, he imagined there wasn't anything to hear.

"Back off or I'll break your arm, you little freak," Gwaine snarled and hung up. He plastered on a smile for the table. "Sorry about that."

The awkward tension resumed as he took his seat and they started digging into their meal.

"So how long before you guys give up and the psycho comes and kills my mom?" Jake asked bluntly.

Laura went white. "Jake…"

"They're not going to catch him," the kid went on. "They're just keeping him away. For now. You'll stop eventually. And then what?"

"Jake, we're not going to stop until this guy is caught," Leon assured him in a measured tone. "And not all stalkers become violent."

"I've been reading about them on the Internet. Even if you do catch him, he won't go to jail. Mom can get a restraining order but that won't make him stop. He'll just keep coming after her until he kills her!"

Gwaine leaned over the corner of the table toward him. "Jake, listen to me. You're right, the cops can't do much for stalking cases. But we're not cops. I promise you we won't rest until this guy is gone for good."

Laura reached over to clasp her son's hand as he fought to hold back the tears he'd been bottling up over all this stress.

Leon pursed his mouth. While he agreed with Gwaine's promise, part of him worried what it would take to stop this guy.

In the meantime, they simply continued with their watchful routines. Until one day when Leon was walking Laura out of the office where she worked, they found her car's windows shattered and the side spray painted in angry red with "You'll be sorry, bitch."

Laura made a choking noise and her knees almost buckled, but Leon ducked in to support her weight. With his other hand, he dug out his cell and called the police, then texted the others. Elyan was with Jake and said he'd keep the kid distracted until they sorted this.

The police came and took a report along with pictures of the scene. Nothing seemed to have been stolen from her car, just vandalized. And then the cops conveyed their apologies that there just wasn't much to go on.

Laura sobbed into Leon's arms. "How can someone just get away with doing all this?"

"He won't," Leon promised. He didn't know how yet, but they couldn't allow this to continue much longer.