A/N: Thank you SnidgetHex, GuestM, and Buckhunter for reviewing again! ^_^
Chapter 3
"You should take Gwen on that date," Morgana said without preamble the next time Arthur came by to check on her. Gwen was down in her shop working.
Arthur froze, looking like a deer caught in headlights for a moment. Morgana smirked, enjoying putting her brother off balance.
"She told me you asked her out, but that your first date was derailed," she went on. "And you haven't rescheduled yet. You should."
Arthur recovered his wits and rolled his eyes. "I'll thank you not to meddle in my love life," he snipped. "Not to mention I'm not going anywhere while your life is being threatened."
"I'm hidden away like you wanted," Morgana countered. "You can afford to take a couple hours off for a dinner date. You do like Gwen, don't you?"
"Yes. A lot," Arthur admitted.
"Then don't keep her waiting."
Arthur pursed his mouth as he thought it over. Then with a look of resolve, he turned and headed down to the garage. Morgana surreptitiously followed, lingering just outside the side door and out of sight but where she could listen.
"Hi Gwen," he said rather awkwardly.
"Arthur. I'm sorry, I haven't started on the bikes yet. I'm still trying to figure out what do to with the pieces. I don't want to accidentally make them look worse."
"No worries," he said quickly. "And they can't look any worse than boasting Cenred's tags. But that's not why I came down here."
"Oh?"
"I was, uh, wondering if you'd like to have that dinner. With me. Tonight."
"Oh. Are you sure? I mean, I know you've got a lot going on right now."
"I'm sure," he replied. "That is, if you still want to go out."
"I do," Gwen answered right away.
"Okay, great. I'll pick you up at seven?"
Morgana grinned in satisfaction and went back upstairs to the apartment. Someone's life might as well stop being on hold since hers couldn't. She picked up a magazine and plopped on the sofa to idly flip through its pages.
Gwen came up earlier than usual that afternoon, looking nervous.
"I have a date with Arthur tonight," she announced.
"That's wonderful," Morgana replied.
Gwen, however, shifted in discomfort. "I don't know what to wear. I don't have any fancy things."
"Have you met my leather wearing brother?"
Gwen laughed. "True. But still, I feel like I should dress up a little."
Morgana stood up and strode over, linking her arm with Gwen's. "Let's see what you've got," she said, steering Gwen into her room and throwing open her closet doors.
Morgana browsed the clothes on the hangers, bypassing all the t-shirts and flannel. There were some spring and summery type blouses, but none of them struck Morgana's interest. Then she spotted a medium blue blouse with dark blue flowers all over it.
"This one," she said, pulling it out.
"Yeah?" Gwen asked.
Morgana nodded decisively. "You have a dark rinse pair of jeans?"
Gwen nodded and went to her dresser to pull them out.
"Perfect," Morgana said. "Nice but still casual. Now, your hair."
"Oh." Gwen reached a hand up to touch her curls self-consciously.
"I know just the style," Morgana assured her.
She seated Gwen on the edge of the bed and grabbed the hairbrush and pins that were sitting atop the dresser in a ceramic dish. With a few passes of the bristles and a few deft twists of the bobby pins, Morgana had pulled back just the sides of Gwen's curls and tucked them underneath, letting the rest of her tresses fall down her back.
"There," Morgana said, pleased with her work.
Gwen looked at herself in the mirror, expression taken aback. "Morgana, thank you," she breathed.
Morgana beamed. "It was my pleasure."
When Arthur arrived that evening to pick up Gwen, Morgana wished them a good time, then settled in for a quiet night by herself.
Since Arthur's bike was in Gwen's shop and he was already driving a rental car, it was easy to go about the date properly by picking her up and driving to the restaurant. Arthur had chosen an Italian sit down place with more of a family style feel than high-end. And he did exchange the leather for dark jeans and a polo shirt.
The hostess led them to a table and Arthur pulled out Guinevere's chair for her.
"You look beautiful," he said as a belated aside.
Gwen blushed. "You clean up nice yourself."
Silence fell between them and they both covered it by looking at their menus until the waiter came to take their orders. Then they didn't have an excuse not to say anything.
"Any progress on finding the person after Morgana?" Gwen asked.
Arthur huffed in frustration. "Not yet."
"Well, it's only been a couple days. And she can stay with me as long as she likes. Though, I'm sure she'll be wanting to get back to her work soon."
Arthur snorted humorlessly. There was only so long he could hold his sister off on that. He changed the subject.
"If you can't fix the bikes, I understand."
"No, I think I can," Gwen said quickly. "Or, well, I still want to try. Like you said, I can't make it much worse."
Arthur quirked a smile at her. But then that awful awkward silence descended again. Was business really the only thing they had to talk about?
Their food arrived and they once again tried to cover their discomfort by stuffing forkfuls of pasta into their mouths. They exchanged a few mutual grimaced smiles before something finally broke, and they both burst into laughs at themselves.
"I'm sorry I'm not better at this," Arthur said.
"I'm not doing so well myself. Perhaps we shouldn't take it so seriously. I mean, dating is about getting to know each other. So, what's your favorite color?"
"Red," Arthur replied. "Yours?"
"Yellow. Favorite food?"
"Chili."
"Mexican."
Arthur shook his head. "Now you tell me."
"Next time," Gwen said boldly, then blushed.
"Favorite movie," Arthur asked.
"Ever After."
"Blade Runner."
"Favorite animal."
"Tiger."
"Guinea pig."
"Guinea pig?" Arthur repeated with a laugh.
"They're cute!"
They continued on like that, falling into easy conversation now that the ice had at long last been broken.
Morgana lounged on the couch in sleep wear, waiting up to hear how Gwen and Arthur's date had gone. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs, then a few beats of silence before the door opened and Gwen came in. Morgana heard Arthur's steps heading back down.
"How'd it go?" she asked.
Gwen immediately broke into a smile like a giddy school girl. "It went well."
Morgana smiled in return, happy for the two of them.
A knock sounded at the door.
Gwen furrowed her brow. "Arthur must have forgotten something."
"Like the goodnight kiss?" Morgana teased.
Gwen rolled her eyes. "Or to check on you," she rejoined, going to open the door.
The moment she turned the knob, the door was slammed inward, knocking Gwen to the floor. Morgana's eyes widened in horror at the sight of Resnik. He spotted her on the couch and went for her. She screamed as she tried to scramble to her feet and away, but he vaulted the sofa and grabbed her arms, then flung her back around and onto the cushions. Then he was on top of her, and Morgana screamed and kicked, but he had her arms and legs pinned.
Gwen appeared behind him and clobbered him with the side table lamp. The shade crumpled and the bulb shattered, and Resnik fell off of Morgana to the floor, momentarily dazed but not out.
"Run!" Gwen yelled, grabbing Morgana's hand and yanking her up.
They ran for the open door and down the stairs to the street. At this time of night and in this neighborhood, the area was mostly empty. There was only the occasional pass of headlights several blocks ahead on a main road.
Gwen managed to get her phone out while they ran. "Arthur!" she cried. "It's—"
She didn't get to finish before a heavy weight slammed into them both. Morgana pitched forward and hit the asphalt, scraping her knees and healing arms against it. She cried out in pain and terror and rolled over. Resnik had knocked them both to the ground. Gwen rocked onto her hip and kicked out at him. He grunted as her foot connected with his side, but then he launched himself over her and punched her in the face so hard that she instantly fell limp.
"Gwen!" Morgana screamed.
But it was her Resnik wanted. And so as loath as she was to leave Gwen in the street, she scrambled to her feet and took off running again, racing past shops and buildings in search of help. But everything was closed up.
She ducked into an alley and then down behind some dumpsters, clamping a hand over her mouth to hold in her heaving gasps. She couldn't hear over the blood roaring in her ears whether Resnik had followed her into the alley, and she tried to force her breathing to calm, to stay perfectly still so she could listen. It didn't work.
And then Resnik stepped around the edge of the dumpster to tower over her. Morgana screamed and tried to dart past him, but he seized her and slammed her back against the wall. Her next cry was cut off as his meaty hands wrapped around her throat and squeezed with violent rage. She struggled against him, but he was too strong, and her vision was going spotty as her lungs began to burn.
Then he was suddenly wrenched away from her, and the force of his fall flung her to the ground again as well. Clutching her throat against hacking coughs, she could just make out through watery vision someone with familiar blond hair fighting with Resnik. She backed up against the wall as they exchanged several blows back and forth. Resnik landed a hit to the gut that doubled over his opponent. He then snatched up a pipe from a pile of refuse.
"Arthur!" Morgana screamed.
Arthur twisted out of the way, then leaped up and grabbed the pipe on its next swing. Using its momentum, he spun Resnik around and sent him flying into the dumpsters. Resnik crashed against them and fell, right into a broken piece of rebar protruding from a chunk of debris.
Morgana screamed and jerked her head away from the gruesome sight. Arthur cautiously approached Resnik, then turned to rush to her side, pulling her into his arms.
"It's over," he said, cupping the back of her head and making sure it stayed turned away from the body.
Morgana pushed against him. "Gwen! Resnik hit her. I left her- I-" Her chest started to hitch with guttural gasps.
Arthur captured her face between his hands. "It's okay, breathe. Where is she?"
Morgana shakily got to her feet, keeping to Arthur's left as they hobbled past Resnik's body and back out onto the street. She hadn't realized how far she'd run in her terror, and it was a handful of blocks before they came upon Gwen, who was just waking up.
Morgana dropped down beside her, too exhausted to stay on her feet. "Gwen!" She threw her arms around her.
"Thank goodness you're okay," Gwen replied, returning the hug. "Where's Resnik?"
"Dead," Arthur said, crouching down in front of her. He reached out to tenderly touch the swelling in her cheek.
"I'm fine," Gwen said. She turned to Morgana. "Are you?"
Physically? She thought so. Emotionally…she might take a few more days of vacation.
Arthur called the police, and they stayed sitting there in the road until the cops arrived. Arthur told them where Resnik was, but he didn't leave Morgana and Gwen until they'd been checked out by EMTs and were sitting in the back of an ambulance wrapped in blankets.
"I'm so sorry for bringing trouble to your home like this," Morgana said.
"I've had my share of trouble," Gwen replied. "I'm just glad we're all okay." She bit her lower lip. "Will Arthur be charged with murder?" she asked worriedly.
"It was self-defense," Morgana said in a subdued tone as the scene of the fight flashed through her mind. "I'll testify to that."
In the end, Morgana's boss agreed that Resnik's death had been an accident during the course of Arthur defending himself and the DA's top prosecutor, so Arthur would not be charged. Morgana could finally go home.
She packed up her things from Gwen's, Arthur waiting downstairs with his rental car to give her a ride.
"Thank you," she said again to Gwen. "We should stay in touch, get coffee sometime."
Gwen smiled. "I'd like that."
Gwen stood in her garage, anxious with anticipation as Arthur, the Knights, and even Morgana gathered around. Their bikes were covered in tarp for the unveiling. It had taken quite a bit of creativity, but Gwen had finally finished the paint jobs. Only Arthur had seen her art before, so everyone else looked as though they didn't expect much, or knew what to expect.
Gwen went over to pick up one edge of the tarp, then flipped it up and back, gradually pulling it away from all the bikes. Hushed gasps of amazement filled the silence, and Gwen beamed.
"You did this?" Lancelot asked in awe.
She nodded.
"By hand?" Leon echoed.
Gwen shrugged self-consciously. "Do you like it?"
"Like it?" Gwaine repeated. "This is wicked!"
Cenred's colors were still there in places, but the tags had been covered and remade into flowing flames and dragons around the metal.
"I can't believe it," Elyan said, looking at his sister. "How come I never knew you had this kind of talent?"
Gwen shrugged. "It's something I just started experimenting with, really."
"Well," Merlin put in. "I think you've found your true calling."
"It truly is beautiful work," Morgana echoed.
"Indeed," Percival agreed. "Thank you so much."
The guys spread out to examine and admire each of their rides, and Gwen was thrilled they liked them.
Arthur touched her elbow and drew her aside. "It's absolutely breathtaking."
She grinned.
His expression sobered a fraction as he gingerly brushed a thumb down the discolored bruise still healing on her face.
"I'm fine," she assured him.
"If I lost you…" he said softly, then suddenly moved in and covered her mouth with his.
Gwen was stunned for a split second, then kissed back. There was an "ooh" from the peanut gallery and some applause, which Gwen couldn't care less about. Her heart was soaring.