Title: The Thief

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Chapter Ten:

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Morgana hides her suspicions and curiosities well… of course, she's really good at acting. By the time Merlin finally returned from his meeting, Gwen was already gone, Lance was already notified, and Morgause is probably being filled in by Lance at this moment. Morgana realizes that she's in a whole different ballpark. Instead of having the leading foot forward, she ended up tripping on Merlin's leading foot, and face planting the floor. Hypothetically, of course. She's right back at square one, not knowing a bloody thing about the man she's been sleeping with for the past week and a half… and it frustrates her.

Not only does she not know what his real name is, she also has nothing to give or tell Morgause. She just knows she's about to get her arse reamed from today to the next month. The only comfort she has, is Merlin himself, and the text message Morgause sent her.

Morgause: We need to talk. A new job has come up and it may change your mind about leaving.

She has no intentions of ever getting back into another job that involves theft, and she's pretty sure she made that obvious to her sister.

Somehow, Morgana and Merlin end up watching a movie on the humongous flatscreen TV, and Merlin ends up laying on the couch with his head in her lap. She couldn't help but admire his face, starting from his hard chin, to his sharp jawline, adorable dimples, high and defined cheekbones, long dark lashes, and finally to his jet black hair. She also couldn't help running her fingers through his hair as she watches him.

She hadn't realized it, but she has completely lost track of what she was actually doing there. Merlin had managed to distract her in a way that ensured that she wouldn't find anything out about him… except for the fact that he has a stash of different identities for himself behind his closet. She's baffled. Who is he? What's his story? His real story. Not wanting to have absolutely nothing to tell Morgause, she decides to interrogate the man whose head is in her lap. Subtly, of course. Morgana clears her throat and shifts a little to get Merlin's attention. She inwardly smiles when he turns his eyes from the T.V to look up at her.

"You okay?"

Morgana nods, then sighs. "Yeah, just… bored, is all."

Merlin sits up and picks the T.V remote up from the floor before muting their movie. "How can I change that?" he grins at her in that way that never fails to drive her crazy… but Morgana is determined to find at least one thing about him that's real.

She shrugs her shoulders at him, hoping she looks as nonchalant as her reply of being bored. "I don't know… maybe we could talk?"

The man's eyebrows furrow at her, "Talk?"

Morgana shrugs again, "Yeah… I mean we don't have to, it's just…" she trails off deliberately, playing the part of someone who is a bit frustrated.

"What is it?" Merlin asks curiously.

"It's just… I feel like all we do is have sex, sleep, eat, drink, and have more sex."

Merlin scratches his jaw and quirks an eyebrow at her. "Usually those are good things." he jokes.

"I'm serious." Morgana says sternly. "I know nearly nothing about you, and it makes me uneasy to think that our… relationship is only physical." she bites her lip and stares at her lap. Despite the fact that she's only trying to get him to hopefully confess something worth telling Morgause, she actually means those words. And though she absolutely loves the sex with Merlin, she doesn't want things to just be sex between them. She wants a little more intimacy. A little more emotion, and… to be honest, a little more honesty. Even on her part. She wants to tell him the truth about herself, and she wants to know the truth about him. But what she wants and what she's supposed to be doing are two different things. When she looks back up at the man beside her, he's smiling at her.

"Fine…" Merlin sighs and leans back in his seat. "What do you want to know?"

Morgana smiles at him as she turns in her seat and faces him. "Everything… what was your life like? What were your parents like? Do you have siblings?…" she shrugs and asks softly, "What's your story?"

Merlin nods, staring at her for a very long time. Finally, after what felt like forever to the both of them, he begins, "It's a very long story."

Morgana shrugs and smiles at him. "We have time."

Merlin snorts at that. "We certainly do."

…

Morgause couldn't believe her sister wasn't able to find anything useful about their target. Despite her anger though, Morgause had more important things to attend to. She has already sent her message to Lance and Gwen, and now she's at her desk, reading through the files that came inside the briefcase that Cenred gave her. Among the files, is a disposable phone.

She's pleasantly surprised to find that everything was practically spelled out for her, which will make her job so much easier. In the first file, she found instructions regarding herself and her team, what they are allowed and not allowed to do or say, what the requirements are for them to qualify for the job, and a brief description of what their job entails.

In the second file, is the pay rate, which Morgause finds to be quite impressive. One payment was worth more than her and her team had ever stolen in their whole career as thieves. In the third file, Morgause finds a receipt of supplies they will need to accomplish their job, and a phone number, which she assumes she'll have to call in order to get those supplies.

Finally, in the last file, Morgause finds a single piece of paper. At the very top, is the name of her new contacts. She skims over the names of people she doesn't know until she gets to the bottom. Morgause's eyes widen into saucers as she stares. She did not see that coming.

…

As it turns out, Merlin was born in a small town very far from here. He doesn't give the full details, but it's good enough for Morgana. He's an only child, who was raised by a single mother. His father got into some trouble with some people and had to leave in order to keep them safe. He used to work little jobs here and there as a young boy, until he moved to London and met Arthur. They became fast enemies, until the day he saved Arthur's life from someone who had a score to settle with Arthur's father, Uther. As a way of showing his appreciation, Uther hired Merlin into his company, where he was to work alongside his son. The two then turned from enemies, to best mates, and then finally, business partners. They started their own company, dealing with art, and conducting search groups to scour the world for lost or stolen artworks. He says it's a tricky trade, but a profitable one. Their company was then merged with Uther's company, and together, they became one of the most sought out Art dealers in the world.

Morgana shakes her head in wonder as she stares at him, "How does an art dealer become the richest man in all of Great Britain?"

Merlin chuckles as reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. "I've done a lot of research and travelled a lot. In my travels, I've reached a sort of… enlightenment. I see the world a bit differently than everyone else. And because of that new sight and vision, I began to find my expertise in locating lost paintings and artworks among other things, by pinpointing their last recorded locations." he then unlocks his phone and scrolls through a few things for moment before handing it to Morgana. "They cost quite the fortune."

The green-eyed girl takes the device from him and looks, to see a photo of what looks like rows and rows of countless paintings, lined up side by side on a wall. She gasps when she recognizes some of the artworks from her history textbooks from school. She glances at Merlin with wide eyes. "These cannot be authentic."

Merlin smiles as he takes his phone back. "They are. In fact, you'd be surprised to find out how many paintings I've already sold for quite the price. It's a bit tricky trying to get the paintings out there given their history, but if you know the right people, there won't be a problem."

"Wow." Morgana stares at him in awe. "And you said you procured these artworks during your travels?"

Merlin nods and smiles. "It wasn't easy, but I had some help here and there."

"Arthur?"

"And some other people." he shrugs. He sighs as he puts his phone away. "Everything in my estate is my life's work. You can take everything I have, but not the artwork. Those artworks mean more to me than anything I've ever owned."

"Why? They're just artworks..." she trails off and studies his face silently. "Surely you have more important things in your life."

Merlin smiles sadly at her and shakes his head. "They're more than just artworks. They're like my life's timeline in a way."

Morgana's heart breaks at that, and she makes a mental note to tell Morgause not to touch Merlin's collection of artwork when they pull the heist. She'll do the stupid job that Morgause had mentioned in her text, but that's it. After that job (if Morgause agrees not to touch the artwork), she's done for good.

Besides all of that, Morgana's brain works at a hundred miles per minute, putting Merlin's story together. There's still quite a lot of details that don't make sense, like his many different passports, but she puts that down to him possibly having to get different identities in order to stay out of the spotlight. After all, he is the richest man in Great Britain, and there are a lot of people who are out to get to his money… Like herself. That thought makes her sick to her stomach.

After their movie, the couple order pizza and wine, and Morgana can't help but feel safe and at home right there with the man she has come to admire so much. She can't deny that she's grown used to having him around. In three days, they'll be heading back to London. He will return to whatever he's been doing before they met, and she's going to go back to the life of lies, theft, and chaos that she's been living in since the day her parents died. And she feels her heart sink at the thought of going back there. When they get back, she'll have to keep seeing him, keep lying to him, and keep deceiving him until he trusts her enough to really let her into his life and home… and then she'll have to steal from him. She wants more than anything to just walk away from her life of deceit and theft, but she knows she can't. One way or another, her past will catch up to her, and she doesn't know if she'll be able to handle that once she fully gives herself to Merlin. So she steels herself and continues to do her job.

While Merlin is in the shower later on in the night, Morgana finally checks her phone. She has 2 missed calls from Morgause, so she decides to call her back and get this over with. Hopefully this new information will calm her sister down a bit.

…

Morgause had just ended her phone call with Cenred, setting up what they need to get this new job done, when her cellphone vibrates again. She's immensely relieved when she sees her sisters name flashing across the screen. She answers with her usual tone of impatience. "What took you so long?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm living with our target at the moment, sister."

Morgause could almost see her sisters eyes rolling in annoyance. "Lance filled me in earlier… you said you were going to get some progress!"

Morgana looks over her shoulder as she moves to the window in the living room. "I did... Merlin's estate isn't just filled with money or luxurious items and jewelries... he also has-"

"Priceless artworks." Morgause finishes for her sister. "I know."

Morgana is speechless for a moment before she asks shakily, "How do you know this?"

"Remember the new job I texted you about?"

"Yeah." Morgana nods to herself.

"Check your phone. I sent you something."

Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, Morgana pulls her phone away from her ear and sees the screen light up with a link from Morgause. In the link, is a picture of some sort of documented paper. "What's this?" She asks, though she doesn't exactly expect an answer as she zooms in on the words in the paper.

Location of paintings to be retrieved: Emrys Court

Owner of Estate: Merlin Emrys

Date of extraction: Three days time

Time Set: One hour

Objective: Retrieve all paintings of value

(You will have one professional art authenticator assigned to assist you).

Good luck,

-Hawk of the Plain

Morgana's heart plummets at that. "What?" Surely she misread that.

"The Hawk of the Plain wants us to steal those artworks." Morgause's voice breaks through her shock.

Morgana's eyes begin to fill with tears of anger. The one thing she told herself she would not do to Merlin, was take his life's work from him, and now her sister wants to do exactly that?! "What?!" She hisses angrily.

"The man he wants us to steal from, is Merlin." Morgause confirms.

Morgana nearly drops her phone, her hands are shaking, but she quickly catches herself and shakes off her shock when she hears the shower shut off. "I have to call you back later." She spat into the receiver. She hangs up immediately and puts her phone away into her purse before sinking into the corner of the couch. What the bloody hell now?!

...

A/N: Ooooh! The suspense! I'm so sorry for ending this here. I will update soon! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think! I'll be updating "He is Mine" next!

-McDiggin'It