Everyone's a Critic

Arthur made a joke about Leon switching his career to traffic cop which resulted in Leon holding Arthur's keys hostage until every last officer on the scene left. Gwen didn't mind the wait. In fact, she encouraged Leon. Watching Arthur grow annoyed and pouty made her feet hurt significantly less.

When Leon surrendered the keys, he tossed them to Gwen. She waited in the car while Arthur shared some final words with Leon. She leaned against the window, hand resting on her sore collar. When the car door slammed, she jumped, not realizing Arthur had gotten in.

"I should get Leon stuck behind the booking desk for a year," Arthur said plotting his revenge as he fastened his seatbelt. "Or is that too long?" he asked her. He noticed her posture. "Are you alright?"

Gwen dropped her hand. "I'm fine."

He thought she needed to work on her poker face. "When are you going to drop the tough girl act?"

"Excuse me?"

"It's okay to admit when you're scared."

"I wasn't scared," she said adamantly.

Arthur wasn't buying it. The rest of the ride was in silence. When they pulled up to her home, before Gwen got out he said, "Part of me doesn't want to entertain the idea, but if you ever need to, you can talk to me."

Head down, Gwen fiddled with the door handle as she internalized what he just said. She gave the slightest of nods and exited without a word.

The ink on Cenred's paperwork wasn't even dry when a very strange call came in from the park. When Arthur arrived, it was blocked off by caution tape and several police cruisers. Curious locals craned their heads to try and get a glimpse of what was happening, though the coroner truck should've been a dead giveaway.

Arthur flashed his badge and was let through. He stood next to the officer and stared at the scene with wide eyes.

Three column stands stood in a line. On top of each was a bell jar with a disassembled skull in each, the pieces held apart by rods. The third stand was skewed with a headless body was partially dug up at its base.

"What the hell is this?"

"I have no idea," the officer said. "You're the inspector. Inspect."

Arthur circled the display, trying to make sense of it while the cop read off his notes to him. People just thought it was some installation art, but one concerned parent called in with a complaint saying it was a disturbance and how no one thinks of the children yada yada. He and his partner came down to check it out and pulled up that stand, saw a hand, and started digging. When they saw the hand was attached to a very real body, they made the call.

According to the lab, the skulls belonged to the headless bodies. They were stripped of flesh and bleached to make Beauchene skulls, also known as exploded skulls. Arthur searched every shop that specialized in oddities until one appraiser recalled a sketchy man interested in how to make Beauchene skulls and the best bugs to use to clean the flesh off bones. After the man's inquiry, he made the mistake of purchasing a three headed pig fetus in a jar with a credit card.

The arrest was quick. They busted into his home and literally caught him red-handed. He was finger painting a portrait with the blood of his victims. He cried about his art all the way to prison.

After the week he's had, the art gallery is the last place Arthur wanted to be on his day off. Mithian pleaded with him to come to a show at the gallery she owned. They'd both be dressed up and it can be sort of a date since his schedule didn't really allow the time.

Arthur stared at the painting in front of him. There was art and then there was art, and it was art that he didn't get. It was the feature painting of a Lance du Lac who Mithian discovered in France. She said he was a genius. Arthur couldn't see it.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Gwen said from behind him.

Arthur nearly jumped out of his skin. "What are you doing here?"

She stood there admiring the painting in an elegant red dress. She gave him a brief look, then back to the painting. "I RSVP'd months ago."

"You got an invite?"

"Helios made donations to the gallery. He was a collector." She practically spewed acid with her words, and Arthur noticed her fingers flex on her gold beaded clutch, gripping the purse tighter. He remembered the first time they met. He called me his prized possession, her words echoed in his head. Her grip relaxed and she spoke again, this time in a friendlier tone. "I want to apologize for my attitude last week."

"I realize that I never thanked you for your help," Arthur said. "So…thank you."

Gwen smiled. "You're welcome, and I'm sorry."

Arthur gave her a small smile of his own then turned back at the painting. "It looks like a bunch of squiggles having sex."

"A bunch of squiggles that represent the vibrations of the human soul in the middle of coital bliss," said a new voice. It was Lance du Lac. "But art is always open to interpretation." He held out his hand. "Lance du Lac, the artist. Welcome to my show."

Arthur shook his hand. "DCI Arthur Pendragon." He didn't like him. His brain kept associating artists with killers. Some artists were psychopaths, weren't they?

"Ah, detective. Mithian told me all about you and the case you solved that saved the gallery."

"Just part of the job."

"And you got the girl."

Gwen watched the exchange and wondered what the artist meant. Lance turned his attention on her. "I'm sorry, miss," he apologized and introduced himself to her despite her being right there when he did so with Arthur. "Thank you for your compliments."

"Oh, you've met," Mithian said coming up. She gave Arthur a peck on the lips. "I'm glad you're here, darling. And Merlin, too. No ghastly murders today? Must be a quiet day in London."

"It's still early," Gwen muttered. Now she knew what Lance meant. She picked a glass of champagne off the passing waiter's tray and took a long sip. It tasted sour, or that could've been the foul taste that formed in her mouth when she witnessed Arthur and Mithian's public display of affection.

"Oh, Mrs. Maynard, it's good to see you. Where is Helios?" Mithian looked around.

"He's dead," Gwen said flatly. "And it's Leodegrance." She stepped away to avoid the awkwardness that would follow, and joined Merlin, his girlfriend, and Morgana on the other side of the room.

Arthur wanted to follow her and risk the torture of being in the same vicinity as his sister, but Mithian reeled him back in.

The atmosphere on the other side of the room felt much less pretentious, and Gwen felt more at ease when she greeted Merlin. "DS Emrys, it's good to see you again."

"And you Ms. Leodegrance."

"Please, call me Gwen."

"If you call me Merlin."

Merlin's politeness, along with Leon, Gwaine, and Percival, had made Gwen nervous at first. When she met them, she felt they were silently judging her knowing that she got away with murder. But they were very kind. After the arrests at Alvarr's club, they had each approached her to check up on and thank her for her assistance. Gwen raised her glass to Merlin. "It's a deal."

He introduced her to his girlfriend, Freya. She worked as a zoo veterinarian. Freya was very nervous, and she kept trying to discreetly sniff the air around her. Merlin said it was because she fell into panther poo earlier and still felt unclean. They both assured Freya that she smelled lovely.

Then he introduced her to Morgana, Arthur's sister. "Half sister," Morgana corrected. Merlin said the siblings emphasized the half when they were arguing. Their resemblance was in the way they carried themselves more than their appearance. But when Morgana's piercing green eyes glared at Arthur, he caught his sister's eye and served her one right back with an equal stormy blue intensity, and Gwen could really see it. Oh yes, they were definitely siblings.

"You know," Gwen said brightly to Merlin. "When Detective Pendragon first introduced us and called you his partner, I thought you two were together."

"If I got a pay raise every time someone thought that…" Merlin sighed.

Morgana broke her staring contest with her brother and doubled over in hysterics, holding onto an also laughing Freya. It caught the attention of many of the guests, and Freya blushed with embarrassment. Morgana paid them no mind. "Don't mind them, Freya. It's rare for the Posh to crack a smile."

The room quieted to the low sound of chatter and gentle classical music playing in the background until Mithian's own laugh could be heard from across the room. Gwen glanced over her shoulder. Mithian was leaning on Arthur, and his arm was around her waist.

Morgana's eyes twinkled with mischief. "Who wants to bet that'll end in a month?"

"I thought you're friends with Mithian?" Freya asked.

"More of acquaintances," Morgana said. "So, that wager?"

Merlin opted out. "He'll kill me if he found out I bet against him…again."

Gwen drummed her nails against her glass. "Count me in." She shared a red lipped smirk with Morgana.

Arthur stood outside on the phone. He lied saying he had to take a phone call, when in fact he was making one. He wanted to check in with Gaius to see if he as needed, anything to get him out of there. Gaius insisted that everything was under control and for Arthur to enjoy his night off. Arthur hung up with a grumble.

"Your sister is lovely," Gwen said.

Arthur grimaced. "You need to stop doing that."

"Just keeping you on your toes, detective," she said. "So, why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend?"

"Of course you would like Morgana. You're just as annoying as she is," Arthur scoffed.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

Gwen playfully swatted him with her purse. "Why didn't tell me about you and Mithian?"

Arthur crossed his arms. "It's none of your business."

Gwen crossed hers too. "I thought you said I could talk to you."

"Not about my personal life."

"Well, I think it's good that you have a girlfriend. Do you always pick up women during your investigations?"

Arthur groaned. "It wasn't like that."

"What was it like, then?" Gwen dropped her arms and held them behind her back. She rocked back and forth on her heels like an inquisitive child.

He ignored her.

"She seems nice," Gwen probed.

"She is." Arthur's response was short, elongating his anticipation for another one of Gwen's nosey questions.

"Merlin and Freya make a very adorable couple," she said.

He agreed with her.

"Unlike you and Mithian."

Arthur's shoulders slumped. "You are very opinionated tonight."

"And you're a wee bit grumpier," Gwen quipped.

"What do you have against Mithian?" He was too late in questioning her because her taxi pulled up.

"See you, detective." She winked at him over her shoulder and slipped inside the black cab.

Arthur watched the cab drive away and disappear around the corner. As brief as their interaction was, Gwen was the highlight of his night.

A/N: Actual Gwen-Mithian interaction in the next chapter (unless I change something). It was originally in this chapter but I cut it out for a better flow. And so I'm extra sorry for the wait if you were looking for a showdown. Forgive me!

THANKS ALWAYS for reading and reviewing! And keep those suggestions coming. They're really helping in the formation of upcoming chapters