WHEN ARTHUR MET GUINEVERE

Summary: This is the story of how Arthur and Guinevere first met told as a modern fiction so there's a fair bit of AU and OOC. Multi chapters and rated T just in case. In this one there's overdue stuff that's said, other stuff that should've been said but wasn't, and a wee bit of perving...not necessarily in that order. Enjoy!

AN: Italics denote POV and Real Time is in normal font so I hope it doesn't get too confusing. Thank you lovely alerters, reviewers, people who favourited (is this even a word?) my story - awww fanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or the characters but if I did...

Chapter 17: The One With Offers

Gwen chews on a fingernail and pretends not to glance at the kitchen clock for the umpteenth time. It's almost three am and this is the third night in a row he's been out this late. She knows she should let it be and go to bed, because she knows if she asks him, it will just result in another unnecessary argument.

Gwen's POV

I feel like a warden. Like I always do when he's back; I turn into this person who constantly worries about her older brother! I feel guilty too – I mean come on, he just got back from a war – and survived. I should be thankful he's back and not row or nag like he says I do…I do not nag. Ok, maybe a little, but it's because I care! I don't want him to get back in with his dodgy mates like before he signed up ten years ago! Some of them are still 'in the game' or whatever it is those criminal element types call it. I just want him to be…alright. I can help him find a job…Or go with him down to an agency or something but he doesn't want my help – says he can handle it on his own – whatever that means. Arthur says I should just give him space – that I need to trust him to do it on his own. Yeah, easier said than done. Finally! He's back.

Elyan enters the flat, slamming the door behind him and dumping his jacket unceremoniously on the floor by the door, his movements tired and alcohol tinged. Gwen rises up from the couch, removing her faded Winnie the Pooh blanket from her legs. She has long ago given up trying to watch Season 1 of Criminal Minds – a present from Arthur when she had passed her final practical module. She had cracked up laughing when she opened it but M&M hadn't understood the joke and Gwen was laughing too hard to explain properly. They put it down to a private "Arwen" thing – a nickname they had vowed never to use to their faces for fear of termination of friendship or the cold shoulder for the better part of a month.

Elyan notices his sister and shakes his head, raising his hand towards her as if he can't be bothered with her. To say he's had a few drinks could possibly be the understatement of the year. That could only mean the job hunting had not gone well – again.

"Hi…How did it go? Are you hungry? I could heat up some of the beef casserole?"

"No thanks, I had something at the pub. How did it go? Hmm...oh you know, just another day at the bottom of the toilet bowl". Gwen is surprised to hear the bitterness in his voice. Wishing she could do something more to comfort him she moves closer and puts her hand on his arm.

"El…You mustn't give up! Please let me help you. We can go to the support office down the block? They put up job notices over there you know and" – he shrugs her hand off violently and Gwen jumps, surprised at the level of his frustration.

"No! I don't want your bloody help alright? In case you haven't noticed, I've been away for ten years – most of that was spent fighting, watching some of my friends not make it back…Now I'm back I can't do much Gwen! Not in the 'real world' anyway. Nothing you say is going to change that. You don't have to worry about me all the time, jeez, you spend so much time worrying about everyone else you don't seem to have a life of your own! In case you haven't noticed, I am older than you, so you should respect me and part of that means getting off my back!" As soon as the words are out of his mouth, he looks away, as if he regrets them immediately. Moving towards Gwen, he pauses when she moves further away from him to stand near the kitchen, her eyes filling with tears, trying not to say anything rash knowing that it will only make matters worse.

"Gwen…Gwennie. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say all of that. Honestly, I didn't. It's just that…You don't know what it's like …" he looks dejected now, not like the usual cocky, rebellious, spirited older brother she is used to seeing. Wrestling with the internal emotions to leave, she ignores it and silently comes to sit down across from him in the tiny living room, waiting for him to continue.

"Being there…in a war zone…Seeing people's lives destroyed, saying goodbye to people I knew…it does things to you. We all know what our training tells us - that you need to process it the way they tell you to because otherwise you get messed up. You deal and move on. I did…But it doesn't mean you ever forget you know? Anyway, by the time we were ready to ship out, I had already spoken to my CO about the leaving procedures - it was my time to leave but I don't regret my time there. I gave ten years of my life to the armed forces and I value the skills I learned, the friends I made, the experiences – good and…bad. Thing is…Here I am; not an army man anymore and suddenly I feel a little lost you know?

I know you worry about me – you always have, and that's partly my fault for being such a royal screw up all the time before I went into the army. Just because I met up with Turk and the others since I've been back, doesn't mean I want that old life again Gwennie – 'cos I don't. The army taught me about discipline and the time away from all of you – not being here with you when Dad passed…I remembered his words. Dad was a good man Gwen, he taught us principles which I never really understood – or appreciated 'til I was out there. A life of crime is definitely not the type of legacy I want to leave behind when my time's up", he stops talking, and looking over, sees Gwen's eyes welling over with tears even though she's smiling. Reaching for her hand, he squeezes it hard, smiling back at her.

"So then…what do you want to do with your time?" she asks, relief pouring through her when she heard him reaffirm his plans not to rekindle his 'friendship' with his former crew.

"I want to get a job – something to do with electronics, or security and such but…who will hire a former soldier and former juvenile delinquent?" He says this last bit with the usual impish Elyan grin and Gwen moves to sit next to him on the couch, wrapping her arm around him, covering the two of them with Winnie the Pooh at the same time.

"Someone who knew that they were looking at a highly skilled, decorated, army veteran who once upon a time was a young bloke who got in with the wrong crowd and has already paid for his mistakes. You can do this Elyan. You're right – I do spend a lot of time worrying about you but it's only because there's just you and me now. I'll always be your baby sister so that's that. I know you have to go it alone but I will always be here to help you if you ask me to. I love you big bro".

Elyan's eyes suspiciously begin to water, like he's on the verge of tears, and he hugs Gwen close to stop them from falling – or maybe just her from seeing. The siblings are silent for a few moments, reflecting on the depth of their conversation before Elyan clears his throat and ruffles Gwen's curls. She smiles and looks up at him, knowing that the old Elyan is back.

"Fine. I will go along with you to the centre. If you promise to a) tone down your nagging and worrying and b) buy a new outfit for the party on Saturday".

Gwen raises her eyebrows at him. "What's wrong with my standard jeans and lavender tops?"

Elyan gets up with an evil gleam in his eye, "That's exactly what's wrong; it's your standard outfit. Live a little! How about something in…pendragon red?"

His grin turns into laughter as Gwen whacks him over the head with a cushion, her laughter joining his.

The next morning Elyan is pouring coffee into Gwen's mug while she's still in the shower when his phone rings. Grinning cheekily when he sees the caller ID, he picks up on the third ring.

Good Morning Arthur. Were you trying to get hold of Gwen? She's still getting ready for school but she can probably call you back in about ten?"

Good Morning Elyan. No actually, it was you I was after and I hope you don't mind, I asked Merlin for your number. Am sorry to call so early in the morning but I was wondering if you were free sometime this morning, say half 9 to come down to PI building? We have a position here that you might be interested in."

"Ok sure. I'll meet you down there at half 9. Thanks Arthur".

"No worries. See you then. Bye".

Gwen emerges from the bathroom rushing around since she knows she only has thirty minutes to get to her seminar. After their long overdue talk earlier that morning, she had slept right through the alarm. She pauses when she sees Elyan smiling his first real smile in four days.

"What're you so pleased about?" she asks, while fumbling with her bags and keys.

Elyan shrugs and pushes her mug towards her on the counter.

"Could be a job offer. Will fill you in later." Gwen smiles at him, says goodbye and leaves.

"At the rate Gwaine is going, I'm surprised there're still pubs with any liquor left to sell in this town! He's been here like 2 weeks and already complaining there's "nowhere to have a quiet drink" anymore! Ha ha. "Arthur laughs, nodding in agreement as Merlin fills him in on Gwaine's latest antics. He and Percy would be leaving on Sunday after Elyan's party. The next week Merlin would be going down to Argentina to ensure that Lancelot was well set up.

The two men having just finished a late lunch at the café down the road are strolling back to PI when Merlin's phone buzzes. After reading the message he groans and puts his phone away. Arthur raises his eyebrows at him and Merlin sighs.

"Morgana has managed to get Gwen to go shopping. The way she goes on about it you'd think it was "bigger than Ben Hur!" Gwen doesn't shop a lot you see. Never has time, etc…I pity the poor girl – if I know Morgs, she'll be trying to force her into something tight and short as we speak. I tried telling her once that Gwen is not a tight, short skirt/dress girl but I got the death stare so that was that". Merlin laughs, thankfully, not noticing that Arthur has gone quite red and is looking a bit flustered now.

Arthur's POV

You pervert! Am not! Are too! Really? Well…One does not imagine what their friends would look like with a tight, short dress on so…Crap, was I really being a perve? Yeah kind of. Really? Yes really. Crap. Yes. Stop imagining her in clothes like that. She would never go for it. Plus, you like the fact she looks great in just about anything she wears so…Ok, can we stop thinking/talking about what Gwen's possibly wearing right now? Merlin is not as dumb as he looks, he will start looking at you funny if you don't lose the dazed look smart quick. How do you know I have a weird look on my face? Um…we're kind of the same person you eejit! Oh yeah!

Luckily they had reached their building by now and Arthur, making some excuse about needing to speak to Gaius sets off ahead while Merlin frowns at him, shrugging as he follows him in. What was up with Arthur? Now he wouldn't have a chance to ask Arthur if he and Elyan were planning on telling Gwen the news that her brother had accepted Kelvin's job – as the old guy was about to retire and PI was looking for a new Head of Security and Risk. Both men knew that the situation with Elyan settling back into civilian life was a delicate one for Gwen right now, and both having had firsthand, albeit different experiences illustrating how stubborn she could be. Plus what with that tireless independent streak of hers, there was a possibility she might not like feeling as if Arthur had gone behind her back to help her brother. Merlin just hoped that Elyan would mention it as soon as possible. Ever so often, Merlin would get these spurts of ESP and foresee that certain situations, if not handled in the proper manner, could come back to bite one in the proverbial behind.

He is still preoccupied with this thought when he enters the elevator, and doesn't notice a certain blonde lady exiting rapidly past him, moving towards the front doors. She marches out of the building towards the car park where a short, squat man with a nervous twitch is waiting.

"Well? What do you have for me?" Vivian is all business and knows she can't be seen talking to this man too long in case someone spots her. Not that anyone would question her about it. They are too terrified of her to do so – after the news spread of how she treated Gwen and got the Deputy Company Director in trouble with 'The Dragon' at the work function a couple of weeks ago.

The man pulls out a mini notepad and flips it open.

"Originally from Grantham County – mother worked as her friend Morgana's family maid for fifteen years. Both parents are dead – mother from a tumor almost 15 years ago; the father was killed by an escaped con at the garage he worked at over 2 years ago. She works nights at PI as part of the cleaning crew, and is almost done with her masters in some type of special ed degree, one semester left to be exact. Spoke to someone in Admissions at the uni and turns out she's applied for some internship in India – hence she's been doing all sorts of extra jobs for the dosh. The brother's back from Afghanistan. Discharged honorably after ten years with the army – he was a juvi case eleven years ago; Courts gave him a choice of either army or jail so he went to the army instead. He's been back two weeks now, job hunting but no one will hire him, so he seems to be falling in with his old crowd again and has been seen getting drunk at several pubs since he got back. This is the icing on the cake though Miss, I just heard from my buddy down in PI HR that he just got hired as Kelvin's replacement down in Se-"

Vivian is so excited she grips his arm, her talons digging in painfully. The man, a private investigator she's hired, cannot help shivering, thinking that there must be truth in that expression 'beauty's only skin deep'.

"What did you say? When did he get hired? By whom?"

Feeling the circulation return after she releases him, the man checks his notes, "Yep, signed up today. The Deputy Company Director himself signed off the papers, with that other one with the huge ears - Merlin acting as witness to the contract. My guy saw them shaking hands, laughing and Arthur said something about keeping an eye on Gwaine's 'quiet ones' at Morgana's house tomorrow night at some party…" He trails off when he sees the evil gleam in her eyes. Mental, this one.

"You will get the rest of your money after you get down to that party and take pictures of them – and there had better be some compromising shots of Arthur and the cleaner got it? Or you only get half".

The man opens his mouth to protest but the words die on his lips when he sees that malicious smirk.

Vivian is no longer paying attention to the private investigator; she's too busy hatching the next part of her plan. This is perfect; the whole cake and the icing are just what she needs to watch them all go down.

AN: Yeahbo man! Vivian aka Octopus is back baby! Stick around for the fireworks (again, not the Katy Perry kind)