Title: The Thief

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Chapter Three:

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She sees Arthur walking up to her and Merlin, a curious look on his face as he glances at her.

Morgana stops abruptly, causing Merlin to stop too and look curiously at her. "Is something wrong?"

"No, but I'd really like to use the ladies room before we leave."

"Right." Merlin nods, gesturing for her to go. "Of course."

Morgana walks quickly, her hand already blindly searching through her purse for her phone. As soon as she gets inside the ladies restroom, she checks the stalls to make sure it's empty, and then dials Gwen's number.

"Why are you calling me and where are you?"

"I'm in the restroom. Come now." She says hurriedly. The call ends and Morgana waits silently for her friend.

The doors soon swing open, revealing Gwen with a curious expression on her face. "What happened? Did he flake?"

"No," Morgana shakes her head. "He- he just invited me to join him in Italy for two weeks."

At that, Gwen laughs, then she sees the serious expression on Morgana's face. "You're going with him." It wasn't a question. Gwen could read her expression. "Why? That isn't part of the job."

"Gwen, I just want to get this over with. If I wait for him to come back from Italy, we'll just waste 2 whole weeks doing nothing. This guys estate is nothing like the estates we've broken into before, so the only way I can get him to let me inside his estate, is if he trusts me."

"So you're going to get him to sort of fall in love with you or something?"

"Not necessarily. I just need him to like me enough to let me into his home."

Gwen looks worriedly at her friend. "What if you end up liking this guy?"

Morgana shakes her head, a look of solid determination on her face. "I won't. That's not part of the job."

Gwen snorts, rolling her eyes, "Going with the target to Italy is not part of the job either, and yet, you're about to do exactly that."

"I assure you, Gwen. I won't fall for him."

Gwen has a skeptical look on her face at that, but nods. "Okay... well when are you leaving?"

Morgana bites her lip, her eyes avoiding Gwen's and looking to the ceiling. She mumbles incoherently, to which Gwen moves closer.

"What was that?"

"Tonight." She sighs heavily.

Gwen's eyes widen into saucers, her hand flying to cover the gasp that nearly escapes her mouth. "Tonight?!" She asks exasperatedly. "Morgana, you don't even know him! For all we know, the reason we know next to nothing about him is because he's probably a serial killer!"

Morgana rolls her eyes at her friend as she begins to walk to the door. "Don't be ridiculous, Gwen. He's an extremely rich and powerful man. The worst he could be is an arsehole."

"But he's so young! Don't tell me you're not the least bit skeptical about how he got to be so rich and powerful!"

Morgana shrugs, "Inheritance."

"Then how come his father wasn't well known? And on top of that, from what Morgause told me, this Merlin guy has been number one on that list of rich people in Great Britain for about 10 years! And he doesn't look a day over 25, so tell me exactly how old he was when he became so rich and powerful?"

Morgana huffs, almost annoyed with her friend. "I don't know, Gwen. But whatever it is, it doesn't make him a serial killer. I'll be finding out his story on this two week trip." She gives Gwen a hopeful look. "I'm sure of it."

Gwen doesn't like this new plan at all, but she nods anyway. "Fine... but please be careful."

"I will." Morgana smiles, rushing to her friend and hugging her before leaving. She finds Merlin at the door, smiling at her.

"You okay?" He asks softly.

Morgana nods, "Yes, thank you for waiting."

"Of course... Arthur is meeting us at the jet, so I'll introduce you to him once we get there."

...

Morgana realizes just how important Merlin is on their way to his limo. His phone wouldn't stop blowing up, most of his calls he ignores except one from the Prime Minister himself. Merlin had spoken to him as if he were speaking to someone unimportant, and then ended the call abruptly and turned his cell phone off.

"You might want to turn your cell phone off soon." Merlin says, pointing towards the airport.

Morgana nods, pulling her cell phone out. She sees that she has 3 text messages from Morgause and immediately closes them. She'll have to read those later because at this moment, Merlin is sitting far too close to her for it to be safe to read.

When they pull up at the entrance to the gate, Morgana realizes that she doesn't have anything to change into once they get to Italy. She groans, face palming herself.

"What's wrong?" Merlin asks curiously.

"I don't have anything to wear once we get to Italy."

Merlin grins at her, shaking his head. "Don't worry. I've got that covered."

Morgana quirks an eyebrow at him. "Do you?"

"Yes." He chuckles. "I'll show you when we get there."

She nods, staying quiet as the limo continues past the gate and straight into a private zone. She sees several large private jets waiting in the area and she raises her eyebrows at each one, sporting the name Ambrosius.

The limo pulls to a stop in front of one of the larger jets, and 2 dark suited men hurry to either side to open their doors for them. Morgana tries to contain her amazement as she stares up at the jet looming above her.

"Shall we?" Merlin asks from her left, sticking out his right arm for her to take.

She nods, smiling at him as she slips her left hand into the crook of his arm and they climb up the stairs leading into the jet.

The outside of the jet is nothing compared to the interior. It looked like the inside of a 5-star hotel suite, luxurious blood red velvet upholstery, thick sumptuous black carpets, with a few gold touches here and there. And this is just the corridor leading to what Morgana assumes will be the main room.

An elderly man in a dark suit smiles widely at them as he pushes the door to the room open, gesturing for them to go through. "Good evening, Mr. Emrys."

"Good evening, Edwin. Everything alright tonight?"

"Everything is well, sir."

Merlin smiles, nodding at him. "That's good. And I've told you to call me Merlin, Edwin."

"Yes, sir."

Morgana smiles as she observes the interactions between Merlin and the man. Merlin chuckles as he gestures at her. "Edwin, this is the beautiful Miss O'Connor." He then looks at her and smiles. "Miss O'Connor, this is Edwin. He's been a friend of mine for quite some time."

Edwin smiles fondly at Merlin before turning to smile at Morgana. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss O'Connor.", Edwin says with a slight bow towards her.

Morgana smiles widely at him, nodding her head towards him. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Edwin."

They continue into the main room, and Morgana grits her teeth to keep from gasping. The colors are much the same as the ones in the corridor, but the room is fully furnished with luxurious red plush sofas, cozy-looking black arm chairs, footrests that probably costs more than her and Morgause's shared apartment, and a costly looking bar in the corner. At the bar, Arthur stands, sipping a drink as he looks at something on his phone.

"Arthur." Merlin says as they approach him. The blonde man looks up, smiling at them.

"Finally. My father won't stop asking for the bloody painting."

Merlin rolls his eyes and looks over his shoulder towards the door. "Tell him not to worry. Gwaine is on his way right now..." he then turns, introducing Morgana to Arthur as 'Miss O'Connor' again.

Arthur smiles at her, squinting his eyes at her. "Weren't you with Odette earlier?"

Morgana's eyebrows furrow at him in confusion. "Who?"

"Odette. I'm pretty sure I saw you speaking to her at the auction hall."

Morgana inwardly groans, having forgotten the pseudonym Gwen chose to get into the auction hall. "Oh! Yes, I just met her tonight. Charming girl." She smiles widely, hoping he'll buy it.

Arthur gives her one last skeptical look before nodding. "Yes, she's definitely a catch."

"Catch?" Merlin asks teasingly. "You've already made a move on her?"

Arthur shrugs, "We're having dinner on Friday when I get back from Italy."

"You're not staying in Italy?" Morgana asks curiously.

Arthur and Merlin exchange looks before snickering at each other.

"What's funny?" Morgana frowns, not liking being left in the dark. Oh, some more irony!

Merlin grins toothily at her, "Arthur hates it there."

Morgana looks at Arthur with a confused expression on her face. "Why?"

Arthur shrugs, "My father lives there."

"So? I mean... it's a huge place. It's not like you'll run into him-"

"Let me tell you the only thing you need to know about my father." Arthur says dismissively. "He's a lying sociopath who cares not about anything or anyone, including his beloved only son." He turns his head, raising his glass to his lips and swallowing a few mouthfuls.

Morgana notes the strong waves of daddy issues coming from the man as Merlin chuckles, shaking his head. "The only reason Arthur is coming to Italy, is to show face. His father intends to leave everything in his possession to Arthur once e passes, but not if Arthur doesn't act right."

"So you're pretending to care?" Morgana questions.

Arthur grins at her. "Precisely." He then looks at Merlin and wiggles his eyebrows. "I like this one." He gestures towards Morgana. She's smarter than all the other brainless bimbo's you've invited into your jet."

Merlin chuckles at that, rolling his eyes at his friend. He turns to Morgana, smiling softly at her. "Would you like a grand tour of the jet?"

Morgana nods, smiling back at him. He really is very handsome. It's a shame she'll have to steal from him later.

Merlin gives her a tour around the jet, further drowning her in the pools of awe and amazement, before taking her back to the main room.

"Back so soon?" Arthur asks lightly, a devious grin on his face. "I thought you would at least spend an hour or so inside that luxurious bedroom in the back."

Merlin chuckles, "Bugger off, prat."

Arthur raises his hands in surrender. "I'm just saying. This is the first time you've ever given someone a grand tour of your jet... of anything really."

Morgana silently watches the two men bicker back and forth, realizing the closeness between the two. Like they're brothers. A sinking feeling in her stomach, weakens her knees and she leans over a chair.

Merlin notices and gently lays a hand on her lower back. "You okay?"

She nods. "Yes, just a little dizzy."

Merlin nods, "You should probably lay down then before we take off." He checks his watch, "We're leaving in about 15 minutes."

As Morgana lays in the comfortable bed in the back room, she can't help but feel like she's doing everything wrong. She's had doubts in her previous missions, but this... this just felt so wrong.

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A/N: Sorry for the late update. I've been working on different fics at once on top of work, thanksgiving preparations, and early Christmas shopping. It's been hectic, but I haven't forgotten. Also, I know this chapter seems a little slow and plotless, but I promise it'll get better. Also, thank you to those who reviewed the previous chapters. I love you all! Next stop, ITALY!

-McDiggin'It