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

Chapter 3

Arthur did indeed tell Elyan what had happened with Cenred, and now Gwen's brother was spending a lot of time at the auto shop, helping her work on cars and tweaking his own bike between jobs. It was almost like when they were younger, hanging out in the garage watching their father work, him teaching them how to change the oil or replace a brake pad. Gwen knew Tom had always imagined he'd pass on the family business to Elyan, but things hadn't worked out that way.

As expected, Cenred returned a third time. Elyan picked up a chrome pipe and took up a defensive stance next to Gwen.

Cenred smirked at him as he strode into the garage. "Nice to see you again, Elyan. Still keeping your nose clean?"

"Unlike some of us," Elyan replied.

"Shame. I miss your talents."

"Get lost."

Cenred turned to Gwen. "I take it you're still set on refusing my offer?"

She gritted her teeth; it wasn't an offer, it was an ultimatum. "That's right."

He tutted in disappointment, and Elyan tapped the barrel of the pipe against his other palm threateningly. Gwen noticed Cenred's goons had stayed outside this time.

"I'm surprised at you, Guinevere. Given the massive debt you're in, what with having to mortgage the shop to pay your father's medical bills."

"What?" Elyan said, shooting Gwen a surprised look. She grimaced.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Cenred said, a glint of glee in his eyes. "You can't afford to refuse me forever," he told Gwen. "And banks offload debt to other collectors all the time."

With that parting threat, he turned and left.

Gwen's knees went weak; she couldn't lose the shop, not to that despicable thug. She couldn't let her father's legacy be tainted.

"You mortgaged the garage?" Elyan asked.

Gwen nodded. And technically her home, since she lived upstairs.

"Why didn't you tell me you needed money?" Elyan demanded.

"Father didn't want you using dirty money to pay for his treatments."

"You still should have told me."

"Well, you weren't here!" Gwen snapped. "You were off running around with Cenred and his gang."

Elyan winced at that.

"I'm sorry," Gwen said contritely. She knew her brother regretted that wayward time in his life, and he had grown up and become more responsible since, leaving the gang and turning his life around under Arthur's leadership. "I just…I don't know what to do."

Elyan pulled her into a hug. "We'll figure it out," he promised.

The next day, Arthur came by the shop. Gwen could tell by the expression on his face that Elyan had told him about Cenred's latest visit.

"I have plenty of money to pay off your mortgage," he said.

Gwen shook her head with a sigh. "I'm not taking your money."

"It's better than Cenred getting the place, isn't it?" he countered.

Gwen's mouth tightened. Being owned by Cenred was the worst thing imaginable, and yet she couldn't bring herself to let Arthur pay off her debt like that. It was too much. And if they ever somehow got past the awkwardness between them and started something further—which Gwen secretly hoped for—she didn't want money hanging over any future relationship they might have.

"No," she said. "This is my problem, and I will find a way to deal with it."

Arthur's lips thinned in displeasure, but Gwen held her ground. She was not going to be strong armed by any man, no matter what.

After the vandalism of Laura's car, she said she'd feel safer if one of the Knights would stay in the house with them at night. Lancelot and Merlin were on duty, Merlin inside and Lancelot out in the driveway. They'd switch at 2am. Being on watch alone was rather boring, and the two of them played Words with Friends on their phones to keep themselves occupied.

Lancelot paused as he heard a noise coming from the neighbor's yard. It was dark and difficult to see anything, so he turned on his phone's flashlight app and went over to investigate. His phone vibrated with the alert that Merlin had made his move and it was Lancelot's turn, but he ignored it as he scanned the yard. Something rapped against the garbage cans lined up on the side of the house. It could have been a raccoon, but Lancelot figured it was better to be safe, so he cautiously ventured forward.

A shadow detached from the side of the house in a blur of speed, and Lancelot didn't see the blow coming as something smashed into the back of his head. He hit the ground hard, vision sparking with stars. As everything blurred, he saw a pair of boots walking away from him and toward the house. Lancelot fumbled for his phone to warn Merlin, but a wave of dizziness knocked him out before he could.

He woke only a minute or two later, his head still ringing. He reached up to touch the back of his skull, wincing at the small knot already swelling. Looking up, he found Laura's garage door open. The door from it into the house wouldn't have been locked, and Lancelot groggily realized something had been stolen from her car—the garage door opener.

He staggered to his feet and lurched toward the house. He found Merlin inside, sprawled out on the floor from a similar blow to the head. A scream went up from the back bedroom, and Lancelot bolted down the hall. He burst into Laura's bedroom where a man in a hoodie was straddling her on the bed, holding a very large kitchen knife. The guy whipped his head up at Lancelot's intrusion, and before he could react, Lance launched himself across the room and tackled him. They went flying off the bed and crashing to the floor on the other side. Laura shrieked.

Lancelot saw the glint of the knife and wrenched away as it arced down. The stalker leaped to his feet and turned back toward Laura, but Lance scissor clipped him with his legs, bringing him down again. Lancelot rolled out of the way and scrambled upright. The guy had such a death-grip on the knife that he still had it in hand, and he lunged at Lancelot with the blade again.

Lance caught his wrist midair and used the attacker's own momentum to twist his arm under, behind, and up until his elbow cracked and he cried out. The knife dropped to the carpet.

Lancelot kicked the guy in the back to drive him to the floor again, then sucker punched him in the face so hard he finally fell limp. He whipped his head up at Laura. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

"Call 911," he said and looked around the room. There was an exercise band in the corner, and Lancelot snatched it up to bind around the stalker's wrists. Since it was stretchy, Lance went ahead and trussed up his arms and legs together, ensuring he wouldn't be able to get up if he woke before the cops arrived. He then snatched up the knife and hurried down the hall to Jake's room.

"Jake!" he called, bursting through the partially closed door.

The kid was sitting up in bed, knees drawn up and shaking in terror.

"Are you okay?" Lancelot asked.

The boy gave a jerky nod. "Where's my mom?"

"She's fine. Everything's fine now. Stay here for now, okay?"

Lancelot didn't wait for a response and rushed to check on Merlin next, who was thankfully waking up.

"Unngh," he groaned, squinting up at Lancelot. "What happened?"

"We got him," Lance replied.

"Oh, that's good," Merlin said with a dopey smile, then winced and draped a hand over his eyes.

Police and EMTs arrived, and statements were taken. All four of them were checked over by the paramedics. Lance and Merlin both had some impressive bumps but no concussions, and Laura and Jake were completely unharmed.

Arthur and the others arrived, and then there were more statements as the cops wanted the backstory that had led up to these events. Gwaine made a point of emphasizing how the cops hadn't done anything to help Laura and Jake, and if it weren't for the Pendragon's Knights, they'd probably be dead right now. At least the police had enough evidence to put the guy away for a long time. Laura and Jake were safe now.

"Thank you," she told them.

Arthur nodded. "You're welcome."

As the Knights were finally getting ready to leave, Lancelot pulled out his phone to scan his CGM and make sure his blood sugar was safe to drive, but the app beeped with an error message. Frowning, he shrugged out of his jacket and rolled his sleeve up to look at the small white device implanted in the back of his arm. Blood was peeking through the adhesive.

"Dammit."

"What's wrong?" Leon asked.

"My sensor must have been damaged in the fight. I'll have to put a new one in." Not that it was a terribly big deal, but these things were expensive and losing one a few days early due to a malfunction or other reason was vexing. Not to mention he couldn't know what his blood sugar was doing until he got home and used his backup meter to check his numbers and put a new sensor in.

"You two shouldn't be riding tonight anyway," Leon said. "We'll take care of your bikes."

Lancelot sighed, but Leon was right, and Merlin's head was no doubt throbbing as much as Lancelot's. So Arthur asked one of the patrol cops if he could give them a ride home, which he obliged. The important thing was they were all safe and the danger was over.

Despite Gwen's insistence that she would find a way to deal with Cenred, she was coming up empty on courses of action.

She was alone when Cenred returned, which was probably for the best, as she didn't need Elyan starting a fight with the biker and someone getting hurt. But she couldn't help the anxious flutter of her heart as she stood her ground with head held high as Cenred sauntered toward her.

"Well, Guinevere, this is the last time I'll ask nicely."

Her jaw clenched; the second time hadn't been nice when he'd trashed her shop.

"My answer hasn't changed," she said staunchly.

Cenred shook his head in irritation. "All I have to do is put in a call to the bank holding your mortgage. Then I won't even need you to run this shop." He canted his head at her with a leering smile. "But I might let you continue living upstairs, under a different kind of payment plan."

Gwen's face flushed hotly, her mind racing. She could call the bank first, beg them not to sell her debt. She'd always been a good customer, paying on time. Surely that counted for something.

Arthur abruptly strode into the garage. Gwen hadn't heard his bike pull up, and he must have parked it on the side street.

"You'll find the bank no longer owns the mortgage on Smithy's Auto Shop," he told them, expression stoic.

Cenred frowned.

"Go ahead and call if you want," Arthur went on. "But Gwen has given her answer. If I hear you come around again, we're going to have problems."

The two men stared each other down for a long moment. Cenred then plastered on a false smile, nodded to Gwen, and left without another word. Gwen didn't know if he intended to leave her alone now or not, but she turned to Arthur.

"What did you mean the bank no longer owns my mortgage?"

"I bought it."

Gwen's brows rose sharply. "You did what? Arthur, I told you I didn't want your money!"

"And I didn't give you any money. I simply secured your loan. You'll continue making payments under the same interest rates and amounts you've been doing." Arthur leveled a serious look at her. "It's not charity. But isn't this better than trying to fend off Cenred? And this way you're safe from any unscrupulous fellows trying to take advantage of you in the future."

Gwen crossed her arms. "And you're not trying to take advantage?"

Arthur shrugged one shoulder. "Well, I may want a discounted paint job out of it," he said with a cheeky smile. "Speaking of which…" He held up the shopping bag he'd carried in. Gwen could see through the thin plastic that it contained paint canisters for an air gun. "I thought you could touch up that rose design and we could start working on the engine."

Gwen smiled in return and took the bag from him. "I'd like that."