AN: Hey guys! Another update, but I somehow managed to make this longer than any of my other chapters... Anyway, I hope you enjoy! This one's another chapter filled with tension and stuff, but don't worry 'cause we'll be toning that down soon. :) It's unbeta-ed, so all mistakes are on me for not being too thorough! Enjoy!

Standing Resistance

Chapter 5

Vengeful? Perhaps. But that was already established a long time ago, and she doubted Merlin would hate it, not entirely at least.

Morgana carefully applied her lipstick, and afterwards she smiled at herself as she watched her reflection on the mirror. Oh, yeah, Merlin definitely would not hate it.

She smoothed her palms down the seams of her fitted dark crème, satin lace-trimmed skirt, the piece of clothing clinging to her curves from her waist and ended just above her knees. Her tight top, only a shade or two lighter than her skirt, had its sleeves crossing just above the top of the back of her skirt and revealed her milky white shoulders as they lay low on her arms, resulting to quite a display of her cleavage. She topped it with a deep fuchsia blazer, embroidered with numerous shades of pink flowers and silver buds and leaves. It would cover up her arms, but the material small enough to still show her breasts and her torso. Morgana decided to wear no gems or pearls or any accessory, as she believed her outfit to be perfectly adequate for her intentions. She slid her feet into simple brown pumps, and she almost bit her lip in anticipation.

She kept the cosmetics as light as possible. Her mascara was faint, the smoky black of her eye-shadow merely enough to highlight her sparkling green jade eyes, and the colour on her cheeks served the purpose only to make her look the more healthier, or, perhaps, flushed. But she chose not to go so easy on her lips this time. Morgana painted them with a dark smooth red, making her lips appear sinful in whatever she did with them. She glanced at a pair of black framed glasses on her nightstand, and her grin grew even wider.

A great asset of hers really was her long, graceful neck, and so why can't she use it? She reached for a box of pins and put each of her dark locks up in a loose bun, leaving just a few tendrils that framed her face perfectly and one that trailed down the nape of her neck, proving to be too short to reach her lazy up-do.

Outside her window, she saw that the sun has just begun to rise, tickling the horizon with the beginnings of a deep pink and hues of purple and violet that entwine with the fading dark blues of the sky. Morgana's grin fell into a smirk, determination setting into her as she grabbed her chocolate brown purse and carefully wore her glasses. Certain, yet still in a way hoping, that Merlin had seen revenge coming from her part, she strode out to the door of her flat and ventured out into the dawn.

The buzz of the doorbell echoed through his flat non-stop, and despite his intentions of ignoring it in all hopes that the disturber of his rest would simply go away, the person seemed to have an iron-clad determination. Merlin groaned into his soft feather pillow, and even though he just wanted to meld into the bed and sleep the day off from work and just not get up, he knew now that this inconsiderate person would not leave him alone. The buzzer going off for at least 10 minutes without pause was enough of a hint for that.

He stormed out of his bedroom in his dressing gown and boxers with a grumpy frown affixed on his forehead, and if whoever it was bothering him doesn't like what he or she sees, then well, they'll just have to deal with it.

He covered the distance between his bedroom and his front door as briskly as he could in his drowsy state, and a glance out the cityscape would clearly tell him that is was only early into the dawn. Who would be mental enough to wake him in this hour?

Merlin's eyes widen as he paused in the middle of a small flight of stairs, only a dozen or so strides left till he reaches the entrance to his flat. Realisation sets within him as he hastens to answer the door, with only one thought ringing in his head. Please don't let it be her, please don't let it be her, please don't let it be her, please don't let it be her… Not yet…

"Merlin!" she tried to greet through her yawn as he opened the door. "How good of you to finally welcome me in." His eyes drifted down as he drank her in, and he didn't know whether or not he liked what he saw.

She was all dolled up in what he can only describe as pure evil. Her attire, despite her attempts to make it look business-like, was pure temptation. Her top looked like it was ready to spill her heaving breasts, and her skirt was so tight that he swore he could make out each of the curves of her body that he had burned into his memory in their times together. Only her snow-white coat, and perhaps her blazer, kept her from practically being naked before him. She raised a questioning eyebrow at him and gave him a look through those glasses of hers. When she received no response from him other than his bewildered expression, Morgana rolled her eyes and slid past him as he merely stood in surprise, gapping at the space where she was standing on moments before.

Merlin slowly, hesitantly, closed the door as he listened to her footsteps growing fainter, her feet bringing her further and further into his current home. He turned his back to lean on the cool wood, his hand still on the doorknob, and closed his eyes as he released a shaky sigh. He should have known he had started a battle, and that Morgana would be more than eager to fight in, and god she played it too well.

He followed way where he heard her footsteps fell, towards the living room. She had looked so smart and sexy in her get-up in the simplest of words. Upon realizing his trail of thought, Merlin groaned inwardly. This would be a hell of a morning.

He found her comfortably seated on his white leather couch, her legs crossed as she rested her arms on the top of the back of her seat, her eyes settled upon the glittering view of the first rays of the sun on the awakening majestic city. It seemed as if she owned the place. Merlin did not fail to notice the two cups of steaming hot coffee perched on his antique wooden coffee table and the paper bag beside it. He stands frozen by the entrance to his living room, unable to move as he watched her place herself into his home and make it seem like she had every right to be there and as if she knew each nook and corner.

He managed to snap out of his reverie only when her voice rang out across the vast expanse of the room, causing him to jump slightly.

"I like this place," her whisper, though soft, echoed to fill in the silence.

Merlin slid his slippers across the glass floor to the soft warm carpet as he inched closer towards her, but instead of situating himself next to her, he silently sat on a grey velvet one-person sofa and eyed her cautiously. She on the other hand simply continued to stare out at the offered view of the worn city of stone and brick below her, clearly captivated by the sight before her eyes.

Morgana, still in the midst of appreciating the sea of towering structures and bustle of people below under the sparkle of the rising sun, reached for a cup of the hot coffee and leaned towards Merlin's direction as she offered him not only the steaming beverage, but a very good view of her front. It then dawned on him what she was doing to him, why she was in his apartment.

Revenge.

With a tentative gulp and a glance down to the sinful paleness that he would curse himself to look at, he took the cup she had bought for him. He knew what this plan she had cooked up in her head would do to him. Embarrass and make him do things he would never do willingly, to say the least. He had had worse. But he could never anticipate what she had in mind for him, what she had entailed for his sanity. While plenty of them involved tempting him with peeks and shows of skin and seduction of the flesh, her methods and the way she approached her goal varied far and wide almost every time. He always had to prepare for the worst, because no matter what she did, may it be subtle or bold, it would rouse thoughts and emotions only she was capable of stirring.

Merlin quickly flicked his stare up to her face, determined to keep his pride and hold fast as long as possible. He took a sip from his scalding beverage, not at all minding the pain that erupted in his mouth that followed down his throat. His hands started to shake, and a different feel of burning was starting to rise at an also very different part of his body.

It wasn't fair, her doing this. She looked on ahead at the horizon as she picked up her own cup, removing the lid from the brim and leaned back against the couch, her chest heaving with gentle yet silent breaths. Her fingers kept drumming against her knee as she kept her legs crossed with her glasses starting to slide to the tip of her perfectly sculpted nose. It looked as if she was trying to patiently wait for him to do something while preoccupying herself with the busy task of sight-seeing. Morgana blew on her beverage, pouting her lips slightly as she was in the middle of the act, and let out a sigh of satisfaction as she downed a gulp of the hot liquid. Her eyes rolled at the back of her head at the feel of warmth slipping down her tongue, and Merlin's grip on his armrest started to tighten. She looked absolutely professional… in an erotic way. Gosh, she really did a good job with this.

But Merlin saw through Morgana. He kept his mouth shut at he kept his eyes on her, a look of doubtfulness in himself and a hopeless determination both fighting to take dominance on his expression. She was very decided to make him squirm, though, and she started this round in their battle. Morgana had to win this one.

When he didn't say anything at all, she could feel his gaze burning holes into her skull. He was watching, and she could see him from the corner of her eye. The view from his flat had been breath-taking, yes, but she had no time to revel at the world's splendours when she had its most powerful sorcerer of all of time to worry about. Morgana raised her cup to her lips once more, but instead of blowing at her drink or taking a sip, she bit at the brim and dug her teeth into the paper to nibble at it.

He tried so hard to keep his composure and keep himself relaxed, but it was all he could do to stop himself from fidgeting on his seat. He was a man that had seen much and was probably involved in the things children study in history books, all that was enough to make him the most cold and distant and emotionless man to ever will live. But then again, she had lived those events with her around, and so it was no mystery to try to solve that if anyone can turn him from a scarred isolated old man to a restless awkward schoolboy, it would be her.

Sitting there, she looked so absolutely delicious. Was that what she was trying to carve out from the inside of his emotional shell? To bring out the—animalistic side of him? To tear up that supposedly professional and "prim" air she tried to give off to make him want to devour her, yet still be under her spell enough that she could control him? Because if that were the case, she was definitely getting her money's worth. He wanted to take her then and there on his couch without mercy till she screamed his name a thousand times over like a desperate prayer.

As he started to think over his situation and what was happening, an anger that leant more on the side of annoyance began to simmer in the pit of his stomach as his eyes dimmed at Morgana. His discomfort began to fade into his hunger to taste her skin, to show her that he was the wrong man to toy with, that in the end, it was he who still had more power.

He regained some of his posture from earlier and rested his back against his chair, waiting for Morgana to make her move, while not bothering to hide the stirring of his arousal as he drank in the sight of her.

Morgana then put her own cup down back on the coffee table, finally tearing her dazed stare from the view out his window to the surface where she placed her drink. She briefly closed her eyelids when she removed her glasses, and then started to nibble at the end of it in place of her cup.

It was only then that she looked at him properly since she got there, and what she was presented with absolutely did not disappoint her.

She could see the simple want in his eyes, want for her. They had grown dark and clouded when she merely entered his flat some five minutes ago and had done about nothing except give him the right angles for some show and display. And there was no mistaking the undeniable and glaring bulge that wasn't there earlier beneath his robe.

When their eyes locked, she knew that she was getting what she wanted. She was winning. She gave him a small smirk, seemingly innocent, as if just to give a smile, but obviously triumphant.

Morgana carefully placed down her glasses beside her cup, and without breaking eye contact with Merlin, she slowly pulled at the sleeves of her coat as she shed the becomingly-too-warm material. Her breasts pushed outwards in the action, making Merlin's gaze drop to her chest for a moment. But as if realizing his mistake, he snapped his head back up guiltily to focus only on her face, as it had lowered a bit earlier in his failure to realize he was doing it.

Her smile turned smug as she crossed off one piece of clothing down, and as she leaned back against the couch, she started to run her hand down hers satin-clad thigh to her bare skin. When she started to notice the quickening pace of the rise and fall of his chest, Morgana placed an elbow on her knee and lightly rested her chin on the base of her palm, as if starting to get impatient. She licked her lips, the tip of her pink tongue peeking for a moment, before she spoke.

"Do you mind if I make myself comfortable?" she asked, her voice only a notch louder than a whisper. But instead of taking the bait, Merlin sipped his coffee, and ignored her question.

"How did you find where I lived?" he demanded, and set his drink down on the coffee table with a soft thud.

However, Morgana took her sweet time, and took his brushing off her inquiry as a yes to her question. She stood, and with a smile towards his direction as she looked down at his somewhat confused expression, Morgana turned her back on Merlin. She began to take slow steps as she started to slide her blazer off her shoulders, and when she dropped the jacket on the armrest of the couch, she smiled inwardly at the loud sound of the hitch of his breath.

She let Merlin wait for her to speak, and let her hands glide across cool surfaces of his furniture and left fleeting touches on the objects she found lying around as she swept her eyes all over his home in quiet steps.

Gods, he didn't know how to describe her in those moments. The soft glow of the sunlight from the outside landed on her skin, and it seemed like her mere essence radiated off of her as it reached to tingle on his skin. With her curious eyes studying his flat, she sent him occasional glances coupled with a teasing crooked smile, and he dug his nails further into the cushion where his hands were rested.

"You have your own lapdog to dig your hole for you, and I have mine," was her own nonchalant response.

When Morgana saw the frown gracing Merlin's forehead, she sighed, and whether it was out of exasperation or a sound meant to send fire to his groin, he couldn't tell. "Eira."

Merlin's eyebrows shot to his hairline in surprise, remembering the blonde girl who supposedly had been the only survivor of her village back in his time in Camelot. It was when everything truly started to fall apart, starting with him losing his magic. She had bedded Gwaine, seemingly besotting him with her charm, only turning out to be a spy under Morgana's hand. He snarled at the memory of her. She was trouble, and he couldn't say he was pleased that she had appeared.

"So she's back, 'eh?" Merlin snickered. "No surprise that she ended up working for you even in another lifetime."

She smiled in contrast to the irritation that began to tug at her thoughts. "Ever the loyal servant."

"Only it's a loyalty you had to buy," Merlin retorted with heat in his voice.

"Only because no one would give me their loyalty willingly and without asking for anything in return," Morgana replied defensively as she raised her chin a little higher. She was starting to get angry, and she needed to control herself. She took a couple of deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself, and thankfully, it worked.

"Oh, yes, I wasn't there at all to give you mine."

Morgana simply raised a delicate brow at him, facing his hostile sarcasm and the emotional subject he presented her with ease and amusement. She had prepared for this; she knew what he would do. He would give himself to anger and past pain to save himself from her temptation. She brushed off his comments, proceeding to ignore any more from him about those old wounds she much preferred not to probe into.

"I bought you some scones. I know a place where they make the most excellent ones in Britain. Just a tiny shop, barely anyone knows it. Who'd have thought?" she gestured towards the paper bag settled on the table in front of Merlin, as if it were the most normal and appropriate thing to say at the moment.

He scoffed and settled for openly staring at her, watching her every move as she roamed around his apartment with searching and observing eyes. She bit her lower lip between her teeth. "How's Gwaine, by the way? I heard you two have been back to being mates for years now," she sent a sweet knowing look to his direction, almost as if she actually cared. Merlin was not at all surprised at her knowledge of Gwaine's returned presence in his life. After all, it wasn't that hard to find out for her.

"Eira back to keeping her toes at his heels, then?"

At that point, Morgana scooted up on his dining room table. His breath caught up in his throat at the sight. In just a few long strides, all he had to do was rip off those pathetic excuses for clothes and pin her to the cold wood and glass surface beneath her…

No. He would play her game, but he won't let her win, won't cave in. He won't be pathetic.

Merlin stood from where he tried to make himself comfortable in his living room, jamming his hands into the pockets of his dressing robe, and took two, three steps towards the dining table. Morgana leaned back with the heels of her palms behind her, a smug smirk tugging at the edge of her delicious lips. She swung her legs at the edge of the table until finally setting to cross them in front of her with eyes dancing at Merlin.

Another step.

"Have you been thinking about my offer?" he asked, carefully forming the words as he tried to calculate each move she made. If he made one mistake, he'd fall into her trap. If his shallow breathing and trembling hands were any indication, he might already have. But he couldn't stop staring at her blood-red lips, wanting to taste them with his own tongue.

She let out what supposedly was a tired sigh, letting her gaze drop at his feet. She then put her weight on her left hand, while moving the other to trace patterns on her naked knee. "What is there to think about?" was her only reply.

He took another step.

"Morgana," Merlin growled under his breath warningly. The nearer he came towards her, the more he could smell her. His flat may be big, but the distance between his living room and dining room was definitely not too far to take her then and there in one giant leap. She smelled of lavender, cream, and simple seduction.

She ran her hand up, careful not to loose contact between her hand and her body as it passed against her chest and stopped to form shapes on her collarbone. When her eyes locked on his, she began to feel the building heat down at her sex. The protrusion down his robe was very evident, and if she made her eyes focus a little downward, she might want to just take him where he stood just to ease him from what seemed painful in her eyes.

Morgana was aroused by seeing how she affected him, and though it was her plan and she had started this particular emotional and sexual battle, she was a tad bit too affected by it than she first intended to be.

Another careful stride. In one more step, he would finally reach her.

She smiled innocently, though, and her fingers settled on the skin above her breast as she kept her line of vision on his face. "Yes, Merlin?"

Morgana sent him a girlish teasing smile, letting her tongue show between her lips for a moment. That had caused him to snap.

Merlin closed the distance between them, placing his hands on the edge of the table on either side of her thighs. He leaned in close enough for his lips to ghost over the shell of her ear and feel his hot breath on her skin, causing to send a shiver down her core. "Is this your way of telling me to back-off during office hours, Morgana?" His voice was husky and gruff. "Because I think I got that crystal clear, I think rather too clear."

Her eyes hooded with weight, with arousal, as she felt his erection poking at her leg. Morgana's breath hitched in her throat when she felt his lips press against her neck. His hand kept up an agonizingly slow pace as it began to creep up her thighs, making her skirt ride up slightly despite its tightness. She tilted her head more to the side as she finally closed her eyelids with what little pleasure he was giving her, offering him a better angle to reach her skin. Oh, how the tables have turned. She had forgotten how good he was at this game as she was.

"Tell me what you want, Morgana," he said against her hot skin, both suddenly panting with anticipation.

"I…" she trailed off when he claimed her waist, riding his hands up and down to her hips as he began to leave a trail of wet kisses down to where a teasing view of her breasts had been testing his self-control. His fingers worked on the zipper on the side of her top, quickly pulling it down, and finally stripping her from the garment that she had worn far too long for his taste.

And, alas, no she wore nothing underneath it.

He thanked her silently for saving him the trouble of taking too much of her clothes off her.

Merlin made no hesitation as he attacked one taunt rosy nipple into his mouth, earning a gasp from the beautiful woman in front of him. Morgana bit her lip to try not to let out the small groans she hadn't meant to make, only to fail miserably. She decided that he was too covered for her liking, and she pushed his dressing gown from his shoulders, making them pool at his elbows.

He shook off his robe, not stopping with assaulting her breasts with his mouth, and when he was clad in nothing but his boxers, he proceeded to roll the unattended nipple between his fingers, and the other held her to keep her still.

"Mine," he growled breathlessly as he tasted her. "You're meant to be mine."

Morgana threw her head back, suddenly becoming powerless under his touch, spewing out nonsense and urgings of him not to stop coming from her lips as one of her hands flew to grip at the black tresses of his hair and the other raking its nails at his bare back.

He moved up, his lips silencing her whimper at the lack of heat of his mouth on her breast. Merlin ran his tongue against the bottom of her lip before thrusting his tongue into her mouth, eliciting a soft moan from her as he brushed his tongue against hers. He tasted of coffee and something she could only have always named as purely Merlin. His fingers tangled into her raven locks, freeing her hair out of its loose confines and making her long waves tumble down her back. Only too quickly though, he broke the kiss, and with laboured breathing, he stared down at her lips as he avoided her eyes.

"Tell me what you really want, Morgana."

She looked away from him at that. Her gaze flicked back out the window as she was growing more and more uncomfortable at the position she found herself in.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" he continued to push. When he looked up from her mouth, he saw that she was already staring at his face. His lips were stained with the colour she had on hers, and as she looked at him, it took all of her not to ravish his mouth once more.

"You," she whispered, almost dejectedly. His hands pressed on her waists a little tighter at the word. "I want you, but I can't have you." There was sadness in her voice that he could not understand, and before he could question her about it, she slid past him and reached for her top on the floor. When she succeeded in wearing it properly and smoothed down her skirt, he grabbed her arm and forced her to face him. Morgana saw the burning in his eyes, making a shiver run down her spine.

"Why do you keep on saying that? That we can't be together?" he asked, suspicion lacing every word. "What is it that you're not telling me?"

Not yet. If she was to make him hers, even just for a while, she would have to put off telling him. Her eyes closed for a brief second, as if in pain, making Merlin all the more puzzled.

Instead of answering him though, she took a step closer, leaning up closer to his lips. She hovered over his mouth hesitantly, but eventually planted a chaste kiss, almost timidly and apologetically.

Coffee and scones forgotten on the coffee table, Morgana turned to dash to her blazer and the heap of her coat and purse before rushing out of his home, leaving him confused and frustrated, and not for the first time.

AN: So what do you guys think? Any comments, suggestions, criticisms? Please let me know what you guys are thinking, and you know I cherish your reviews! :D