AN: Since this chapter has a lot of Gwen with her father, it seemed on fitting to post on Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to all the men out there by the way! In this chapter, some mysteries are answered. It's a pretty emotional chapter. Especially the scenes between Gwen and her father. And as promised... Gwen's pretty badass in this. Especially in the beginning. That scene was a lot of fun to write! Hope you enjoy. And as always, please review after you read. Those kinda get me through to the next chapter. :)


Chapter 11

Beep. Beep.

Beep. Beep.

His eyes blinked slowly trying to focus on his surroundings. The sterile smell of the room he was in could only mean he'd been brought to a hospital.

He turned his head toward the window and found her sleeping in what had to be a really small and uncomfortable couch. What day was it? The sun was out, he'd realized instantly. How long had he been sleeping? He tried to sit up and groaned when the pain in his ribs was too much.

Gwen slowly opened her eyes when the movement caught her attention. She sat up in the seat yawning and moved to his side as quickly as she could. "You shouldn't move around too much… you've got a couple broken ribs."

She was frowning.

"How long have I been out?" Arthur asked.

"We brought you in last night…." She answered helping him sit comfortably against the pillows.

"We?"

"Merlin and me…." She frowned. "Well, Merlin got as far as the door before apologizing and turning around to leave…"

"Progress…" Arthur joked trying to coax a smile out of her. It wasn't working. "You're angry."

"I'm not…." She took a deep breath. "I'm not angry…"

"You sound angry…"

"I was scared, Arthur…" she snapped. When she realized how she'd spoken to him she frowned. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to snap at you."

"It's okay…" he took her hands in his. "I'm the one who should be apologizing… I brought you into this mess that is my life. I shouldn't have done that."

"You almost died, Arthur." Gwen shook her head. "What happened?"

"My bookie… he was upset that I missed a fight last night. He lost a lot in bets because of it and this is his way of sending a warning." Arthur shrugged.

"A warning for what?" Gwen asked already knowing the answer, but needing to hear it from him.

"That next time he'll make sure to finish the job." He lowered his gaze to the blanket covering him.

"Next time?" she asked.

"Next time I miss a fight…" he explained.

"You're still going to fight?"

"I have to."

"No you don't…"

"Yes, Gwen, I do…" Arthur stressed. "Especially now that I owe him back…"

"Arthur…"

A knock on the door interrupted her. They both looked up to find Tristan and Percival standing in the doorway.

"Are we interrupting?" Tristan asked with a smile.

Arthur sat up a little straighter. Gwen looked between Tristan and Arthur, realizing the tension between both men.

"Tristan…" she greeted with a smile. "Are you here to visit Arthur?"

"I am actually…" he nodded.

"And how did you know that he was here?" she asked crossing her arms.

Tristan showed her his badge and Gwen nodded in understanding. "So you're not friends of Arthur's… you're his arresting officers…"

"We need to ask Mr. Pendragon a few questions, Ms. Leodagrance." Tristan stepped further into the room.

"Mr. Pendragon is currently under the medical care of Doctor Nimueh… he's not available for your inquiries at the moment."

"Are you hindering our inquiries, Ms. Leodagrance?" Tristan asked with a scowl.

"Not at all…" she took a better look at his badge and smiled, "Chief Inspector… Merely advising you that Mr. Pendragon is not available for your inquiries at the present moment…"

"We'll return then…" Tristan nodded toward Arthur. "When Doctor Nimueh has given you a clean bill of health."

"Not without his lawyer present." Gwen challenged.

Arthur watched the two, feeling a smile creep on his face.

"Very well then…" Tristan nodded in understanding. "We'll see you soon, Arthur. Feel better."

Gwen closed the door behind them and took a deep breath before releasing it.

"Where'd you learn that?" Arthur asked from the bed.

She turned around and shrugged. "I grew up with my dad… I may have picked up a thing or two from him…"

"What was that lawyer business?" he asked. "They can't charge me with anything again… I wasn't fighting…"

"They don't know that, Arthur…" she frowned searching for her mobile in her bag. "Right now, it just looks like you broke your probation…"

"Who are you calling?"

"My father…" she frowned. "You'll need a lawyer… and a good one…" Gwen released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding when the other line picked up. "Hi daddy, I need a favor…"


"Absolutely not!" Tom Leodagrance argued with his only daughter. "I refuse to be involved in this."

"Daddy…"

"Guinevere…" he narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of him.

She mimicked his stance and gave him a glare of her own.

Collette stood watching the two in the family room trying hard to hide her soft smile.

"He needs your help, dad." Gwen started trying a different approach. "Arthur wasn't fighting… his… he was attacked."

"Inside of his own flat…" Tom leaned his head to the side, not believing her.

Gwen shrugged. "They obviously did not want witnesses."

"Your friend has a long record, Gwen…" Tom shook his head. "Chances are, he broke his probation and now he's been caught by authorities."

"But he didn't!"

"And how can you be so bloody sure of that?" Tom asked.

"Because…" Gwen bit her tongue. She looked up at him and frowned. "Because I was with him that night…."

"I know you were… at the pub…" Tom shrugged his shoulders. "But then he left and no one knows where…"

"No… dad… you don't understand…" she frowned. "I was with Arthur… all night…"

Tom turned back toward his daughter, his face reddening even more than it had earlier.


"What the bloody hell were you thinking to get involved with a police investigation?" her father screamed in the hospital waiting room. "They're talking about charging you with obstruction of justice! My own daughter… with criminal charges!"

"They were trying to violate his rights, dad! And you've always taught me to fight for what is right!"

"Don't turn my words back on me, Gwen!" Tom growled. "What you told Chief Inspector Knight was out of bounds! You're lucky he did not arrest you."

"He couldn't! I was right! Arthur needed to have his lawyer with him when he was questioned."

"Arthur Pendragon does not have a lawyer!"

"That's why I called you!"

"Guinevere!"

"Dad!"

They were both making a scene. They realized it when they noticed all the blank, silent stares looking back at them.

"I'm not taking his case…" Tom shook his head. "I refuse to help Uther Pendragon's son."

"What did his father do to you?" Gwen asked. "Why do you hate him so much?"

"We'll talk about this at home, Guinevere."

"Dad."

"We're going home." He frowned. "Now."


They'd been arguing for the last hour over it. Gwen still hadn't gotten the information from him that she needed. And he had not changed his mind yet. So far, her efforts had been for naught. That upset her. She couldn't understand why her father would refuse to help someone who needed him. All because of who'd fathered him.

"I hate you." Gwen growled.

"You don't mean that."

She nodded. "Yes, I do. Now, I finally understand why Eli left. He was right about you. He always was. Ever since mum died… you're not the man I thought you were…"

"Guinevere…"

"If you won't help Arthur, I will."

"How? You're not licensed to practice. You're not even in law school."

"Maybe not…" Gwen frowned. "But I can study the material… I can learn. I'm a smart girl, dad… you did raise me after all."

"Gwen…"

"No… you had your chance to help me… you've chosen not to be involved." She shook her head. "I'll never forgive you for this."

She turned to leave the room as he called after her. She ignored him and ran up the stairs to her room, slamming the door shut behind her. Tom fell back on his couch with a sigh and rubbed his forehead. Collette stood directly behind him with her hands folded in front of her.

"Go on…" he muttered at the older woman. "Tell me what you want to say…"

"I think she's right." Collette answered.

"I thought you would…" Tom said looking back at her. "Why?"

"Well, she obviously cares for the boy… you've clearly missed that part of the story…"

"What are you talking about, Collette?" Tom shook his head before standing and walking toward his drink cart. "They barely know each other. It's nothing more than a passing fancy…"

"It's more than that, sir…" she said with a frown. "I think our young Gwen has gone and fallen and love… and it hurts you because it's the son of a man you despise."

Tom shook his head refusing to accept that. "Of all the people in the world… why him… why a Pendragon?"

"From what Gwen said… Arthur doesn't strike me to be anything like his father…" Collette continued.

"Gwen doesn't really know very much about his father…" Tom frowned. "How could she?"

"Well, why don't you tell her then?"

"I can't tell her, Collette." He shook his head. "She'd despise me…"

"How is that any different from what she feels now?"

"Because at least now, I don't disgust her." He frowned.

"You were young, Tom… You and Uther were both so young… what happened was not your fault…" Collette continued. "She deserves to know…"

Tom finished his scotch in one final gulp before placing the glass on the cart lightly. "You're right…" he whispered before turning toward her. "She's old enough to know… to learn the real reason Eli left…"

"Eli couldn't handle what you trusted him with… you've always thought Eli was the one destined to carry on your legacy… perhaps you were expecting much from the wrong heir to the Leodagrance dynasty…"

"Perhaps…"

Collette walked toward him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Gwen won't think any less of you… You're her father… and despite what she said tonight, she does love you."

"I know that…" he frowned.

"Then help her… tell her the truth and help the boy… otherwise… I fear you may truly lose her too."


Gwen lay on her bed, in the dark, with her ear buds plugged in her ear. She felt the door open and turned her back to it before he'd walked fully inside.

"Guinevere…" he whispered before turning on the light. "I want to talk to you…"

She tried to ignore him, even as he sat on the edge of her bed.

"I'll tell you the truth…"

She could hear him. Despite the music playing softly, she could hear him.

"But I need you to turn around so we could talk properly."

She sighed before turning toward him. "You have to tell me everything…"

He nodded. "I will."

"And will you help Arthur, too?"

He flinched but nodded anyway. "For you… I'll help your… friend."

Gwen smiled softly. "Thanks, daddy."

She removed her ear buds and looked up at him expectantly. "Tell me…"

"I knew Arthur's father… when we were both young… we both served in the military together…" Tom started.

"You were mates?"

Tom nodded. "For a long time, Uther was my best mate… my brother… we were both from here… we'd both left the loves our lives back home… Ygraine, Arthur's mum, was beautiful. She and your mum were the best of friends. It was almost kismet that Uther and I had become such good friends while serving. We didn't even learn of the connection until we got home and they were both waiting for us…"

"Destiny…" Gwen whispered with a smile.

"Not exactly, baby…" he shook his head. "Ygraine got pregnant with Arthur fairly quickly after we returned."

"Why is that so horrible?"

"Uther didn't believe Ygraine when she said the baby was his…" Tom's eyes watered. "They hadn't been able to conceive, which was why they'd adopted Morgana."

"Dad… what happened? What did Uther do?"

"Uther came to our house one night…" Tom took a deep breath. "He was drunk… he'd drank a lot because he'd fought with Ygraine again over the pregnancy. He thought she'd been with someone else while we were overseas…"

"Was she?" Gwen whispered.

"I don't know…" Tom shrugged. "I doubt it… but your mother wouldn't have told me, even if it was true."

"What happened?"

"Uther came to our house… and your mum didn't want him around Elian…. He was about one at the time…" Tom continued. "So I took Uther for a drive… I tried to help him sober up before I sent him home." He took a deep breath before continuing. "Uther took the keys from me… and he drove instead."

"Drunk?"

Tom nodded.

"Dad…" Gwen started. "Did you… did you hurt someone?"

Tom choked up before nodding in a fit of choking sobs. "Yes… he hit someone… an old man… homeless… who was crossing the road…"

"Oh my God…"

"I helped him hide it." Tom confessed. "We never told anyone. Not Ygraine… not your mother… but we drifted apart. Ygraine and your mum drifted apart as well… and then Arthur was born and Ygraine died… your mother blamed herself for not being there for her friend… I couldn't bring myself to ever tell her it was because of me…"

"Dad…"

"We killed someone, Gwen…" Tom told her. "Arthur's father and I both killed a man… someone's son… maybe even someone's father or brother… We don't know…"

"Did they find the body?"

"Yes…" he nodded. "But no one claimed him… we thought it would make it easier but it didn't. I couldn't look at him without that reminder…"

"Who else knows about this?"

"I told your mum before she died… Collette has been with the family since before you and Elian were born, so she's always known. She helped me hide it from your mother. She burned the bloody clothes from that night." Tom confessed. "And Elian…"

"That's why you were always fighting…" she gasped.

"He called me a fraud…" Tom nodded. "He couldn't handle the truth about his father."

"Oh dad…" Gwen put a hand on top of his. "It wasn't your fault… Is that why you went into law?"

"I thought about going into police work but your mother asked me not to…" he smiled softly at her memory. "She told me I can do more behind a desk than I thought if I just helped the right people."

"Is that why you hate Arthur so much?" Gwen asked tentatively.

"I don't hate Arthur…" Tom shook his head. "He just reminds me of his father."

"Arthur is nothing like his father." Gwen shook her head defiantly.

"You don't know his father, Gwen…"

"I know they had a falling out."

"Arthur doesn't speak to his father?"

Gwen shook her head. "He hasn't for a long time."

"Why?"

"I think it has something with his sister's disappearance." She said.

"I remember reading about that in the papers." Tom frowned. "Morgana was a sweet girl… she was the apple of his eye. Until Arthur was born."

"Dad, is it possible that Arthur isn't Uther's son?" Gwen asked.

"I don't believe Ygraine had an affair…" Tom shook his head. "I don't believe she would have done that to Uther… she loved him… the only person she loved more in this world was their sweet Morgana and Arthur when she learned of his existence."

"What do you think happened to her?" Gwen asked.

"Morgana? No one knows…" Tom said. "They tried to find her but she'd either covered her tracks very well, or the person who took her did."

"How old was she when she disappeared?"

"She would have been sixteen, I think…"

"That's so young…" Gwen frowned.

"Does Arthur ever speak of her?"

"No…" Gwen shook her head. "He doesn't speak of his family ever."

"You can't tell him anything that I just told you, Gwen…"

"Dad…"

"No, Gwen… no one can know… not Merlin… not even Arthur…. Especially not Arthur."

"Okay…" she promised. "I won't tell."

"Good girl…" he said leaning in to kiss her forehead before standing and walking toward the door.

"So you will take his case?" Gwen called out softly to his retreating figure.

Tom paused before nodding. "I never imagined I'd be defending a Pendragon… but yes… for you… I'll help Arthur."