Author's note : computer all better now. Thank you for the reviews.
DISCLAIMER : I do not own Merlin
Chapter Nine
Arthur let out a small quiet groan as Gwen got him onto their bed and helped him move his arm onto a pillow so it wouldn't hurt his still healing ribs. "Comfy?" she asked.
"As comfy as I'll ever be," he said as she pulled a blanket over him.
"I'm going to leave your antibiotics and painkillers on the bedside table for you with a bottle of water," she said. "Agent Jones is downstairs," she said. "Do you know who that is?"
"Pete," he said.
"I'm sorry I have to work the day you came home," she said. "I was hoping I could take care of you myself."
"You can do that tonight, love," he said causing Gwen to chuckle.
"Steady, Tiger," she said getting onto the bed. "I love you," she said.
"I love you, too," he said and she kissed him on the lips softly. "See you when you get back from work."
"Okay," she said. She gave him one last kiss before leaving him alone in the bedroom. She passed Pete in the living room on her way to get her purse. "He'll be asleep soon, Peter," she said.
"Okay," the agent said getting up from the chair he was sitting on.
"You'll have to wake him up in about four hours so he can take his next batch of medication," she explained pulling on her coat and Peter nodded. "Oh, and make sure he eats something, too," she added and he gave her a thumbs up.
"Your detail is waiting outside, Dr. Rylee," Peter said. She nodded before leaving the house, trusting Arthur's colleague to protect him. Gwen waved to Agent Donovan who was waiting for her against an NCIS Dodge car.
He opened the passenger side door for her and she climbed in. Down the street, Lancelot was in a new vehicle that he borrowed from his ex girlfriend. He smacked the steering wheel when he spotted the NCIS agent with Gwen. That meant there was another one in the house with Arthur. He hoping with Arthur in his drug induced sleep he could kill him easy, but it wasn't going his way. He would have to wait until the detail is lighter.
"Maybe at night," he muttered to himself. So, he decided to wait for the perfect opportunity. That didn't come until night time when the car detail outside left and only two agents inside were the protection. Gwen arrived home from work and hurried inside with her agent.
"He didn't eat much, but he ate," Peter said pulling on his coat. It was time for the shift change. Two new agents were on their way.
"Why don't you guys go home?" Gwen suggested. "We'll be fine until the next shift comes."
"We're not allowed to leave until the next shift comes, Gwen," her agent said.
"Jon, it's your son's birthday," she said. "Go home." Jon and Peter looked at each other before coming up with a solution.
"Lock all your doors when we leave and call if there's trouble," Jon said. "We'll turn around immediately."
"Of course," she said. She saw them out with some leftovers and locked the door behind them. Lancelot sat up when he saw the agents leaving before the next shift arrived. This was the moment he was waiting for. Once the dodge left the street, Lancelot got out of the car and headed around the back to see if he could break in.
Gwen walked up to the bedroom to find Arthur sleeping and she climbed into bed with him. She carefully lifted his right arm to put over her and she rested her head on his chest.
"Hey," he said startling her. "Sorry," he said.
"It's okay," she said. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Better since I slept all day," he said and she giggled. Just then they heard something smash downstairs. "What was that?"
"I don't know," she said. They sat up, Arthur winching a bit and he reached underneath his pillow.
"Cock this for me," he said handing her his gun. She pulled back the slide and handed it back to him. He made sure the safety was off before getting up. Gwen pulled out her cellphone to call Jon and Peter as Arthur stuck his head out to investigate. Nothing was in the hall so he pointed his gun to the staircase and headed down with Gwen trailing behind him.
Lancelot entered the home of Gwen and Arthur and thanked God that they didn't have a dog yet. He closed the door and quietly walked through the living room. A light came on from upstairs and he hurried into the kitchen to hide. From his hiding spot, he saw Arthur cautiously come down the steps, with his gun.
Arthur searched the dark living room for any signs and didn't see any. Unable to use his left arm to turn on the light, Arthur reached for the switch with his right. A big mistake. Before his finger touched the switch, he heard the click of a gun. "Put it down, Pendragon," a familiar voice said. "Safety on." Arthur clicked on the safety to his gun and slowly put it down on the floor, grimacing when it strained his ribs.
"Now what?"
"On your knees," Lancelot ordered and Arthur got on his knees, keeping his right hand up in the air. "Why couldn't you just die in the crash?" he asked.
"Too much to live for," Arthur replied. He felt the barrel of a gun touch the back of his head.
"You've ruined everything," Lancelot said. Just then, Gwen had come down to see what was going on. She turned the light on and gasped seeing her ex boyfriend holding her fiance at gunpoint.
"Lancelot, don't!" she commanded.
"Gwen, go back upstairs," Arthur said.
"No!" she shouted.
"I don't want you to see this, Guinevere," Lancelot said. Gwen shook her head in disbelief. Just as soon as she got Arthur back, her ruddy ex is going to take him away. The thought had her crying her eyes out as she sat on the steps.
"Please, don't kill him, Lance," she said.
"Don't cry, Gwen," Lancelot said. "Everything will be better once he's gone," he added. Arthur remained motionless on the floor. It was all he could do from his spot.
"Please," Gwen pleaded again, but they seemed to go against deaf ears. Arthur tried to move his head to look at her, but the gun was pressed into his head again.
"Don't move," Lancelot said. "You ruined my life. The last thing I'm going to do is let you look into her eyes when I pull this trigger."
"Lance, this isn't going to make things better," she said while crying. "This will ruin your life forever."
"Gwen, I beg you," he said not listening to her, "please, go upstairs."
"No," she said shaking her head and Lancelot let out a groan of frustration. Things weren't going according to plan. "I'm not leaving this room just so you can kill him."
"Are you sure you can do this, Lancelot?" Arthur asked. "Kill the man that the woman you love is marrying in front of her."
"Gwen, I don't want to do this in front of you!" Lancelot shouted.
"You're going to have to," Gwen replied.
"You can't even look me in the eyes to shoot me," Arthur said.
"Arthur, stop," Gwen said as Lancelot came out of the kitchen and glared at Arthur. Now Arthur was staring down the barrel of the guninstead of having one pointed to the back of his head.
"She'll never forgive you for this," he said. "You'll get a needle in your arm for this, Lancelot. Murder of a federal officer in cold blood. What makes you think everything will go back to normal once I'm dead?" he asked.
"They will," Lancelot said. "In the legends Guinevere is free to be with Lancelot after Arthur dies." He puts his finger on the trigger and gets ready to pull it. Arthur closes his eyes prompting Gwen to get up from the stairs, lunging forward.
"No!" she shouted and a shot rang out in the house.
Neighbors gathered behind the yellow crime scene tape around the Pendragon home. Red and blue lights illuminate the street as NCIS agents and metro work in tandem with each other. Gwen was sitting in an ambulance, a blanket around her shoulders, when Dr. Jordon, the NCIS medical examiner and her assistant, Kyle, came out the house with a black body bag with someone in it. She watched them wheel it by her and to the van where they loaded it up. She sighed out in sorrow for the man inside it, now just a cold body for the morgue. Someone sat next to her, putting their arm around her and she looked over to see the man that she loved was still alive. (breath out that sigh of relief now.)
"You okay?" Arthur asked. She nodded before putting her head on his shoulder.
"He needed help, Arthur," she said.
"I know," he said. "He should have gotten it from his mother."
"Oh, God, Charlotte," she said looking at him.
"Metro will handle it," Arthur said. "She'll find someone to blame other than herself though. She was the one who got him believing that the legend was real."
"Yeah, I suppose," she said. "Who shot …?"
"Pete," Arthur said. "I saw him come around to the back door where Lancelot broke in. I made him come out in the open so he'd have a clear shot."
"It didn't have to end that way," she said.
"He was going to shoot me, Gwen," he said. "No matter what was said." Gwen sighed out in frustration seeing how calm her fiance was. "What?" he asked.
"He had a gun to your head, Arthur," she said. "How are you so calm?" she asked. Arthur let out a sigh before taking his arm out to show her his hands. They were shaking just the tiniest bit.
"You feel better?" he asked as she took his hand into her and kissed it.
"Where are we going to stay?" she asked. "I can't very well stay in there with his blood on our floor."
"Mum offered the guest bedroom at her house." Gwen sighed as she set her head onto his shoulder again.
"I just want this to be over with," she said.
"It is," he said kissing her head. "Things are finally back to normal for us," he said. Gwen sighed out before lifting her head and they kissed softly. Well, not entirely back to normal. They still had to get through the wedding.
