A/N: Hello, hello! Welcome to the Modern-Reincarnation sequel story, Flashover, of my Merlin Series the Draconian Prophecies :) Even though this is a modern retelling of my original series, I would recommend new readers first read that series, (Sparks, Flames, Burning, Blazing, and Embers), to really enjoy seeing some of the parallels and twists from the first story to this one :)

This story should be about 115 chapters long and updated every Wednesday. This is also going to be an Arthur/OC (Merlin/Morgana, Gwen/Lancelot) story ;)

~8~ is a scene break.

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin...or we would have seen a sequel to the show too ;)

~8~

Valiant Effort

Beepbeepbeep…Beepbeepbeep…Beepbeepbeep…

The noise of a shrill alarm blared through the small, dark bedroom only to be followed by a deep grunt that held a touch of a groan to it before, from beneath a pile of blankets, a head with a mop of black hair emerged to peer at the blinking alarm before flopping back down beneath the pillow.

…only for the body attached to said head to practically leap out of the bed.

"8:05!" a deep, masculine voice cried as the young man it belonged to gaped at the clock for one moment, rushing to it and grabbing it, "No, no, no, no…it's not, it can't be!" he shook the alarm, trying to turn it off in the haze of sleep that had abruptly left him, succeeding on his fifth attempt, only one attempt before he was about to throw it at the wall to silence it, "Damn it!"

He turned quickly, rushing for the small closet…and promptly tripped over a pile of clothing on the carpet. He fell with a hard oomph, before leaping up and scrambling to the closet, grabbing the first pieces of clothing he could reach and dashing to the even tinier bathroom just outside his room.

He was late!

He was SO late!

He was going to be fired, he was sure of it. This time his boss, Arthur, was really going to fire him…or kill him, to be fair though the killing would probably be the best option though. No one that was fired from Pendragon Security survived for long, no one that was fired left without a black mark on their record, making it nearly impossible to be hired anywhere else that paid a decent wage. Ooh he really needed to get to work and get there quickly.

...which did explain how he ended up grimacing when his stomach growled for the third time in five minutes around lunch only hours later. He'd flown out of his uncle's small flat so quickly that he'd left his small bagged lunch in the refrigerator and he hadn't had the time during the day to go back and get it. He was starving! But he also hadn't had time to actually do much, not even stop by the small cafeteria of the building the company was based in, affectionately called 'Camelot' by those that worked there, which was just about everyone save the actual CEO and his son. Arthur Pendragon, his boss, the owner's son, was always irritated when people called it Camelot, but then again he was equally irritated by his own name. He'd been named for the king of legend, which did explain the man's massive ego and arrogance and…

"Are YOU the one making that ungodly noise, Merlin?"

Merlin closed his eyes, speak of the devil, he really should stop even thinking Arthur's name in his head, the man had an unparalleled habit of showing up whenever it seemed like he was even on the verge of being thought of or mentioned. He bit back a groan and turned around to see his boss walking towards him, dressed more casually than normal in a pair of black trousers and a red button-up long sleeved shirt, why the man bothered with long sleeves when he constantly rolled and pushed them up was beyond him.

"No, sir," Merlin shook his head, "Wasn't me. No idea what that could have been."

And, of course, as his luck would have it, his stomach grumbled yet again, deflating him slightly as Arthur smirked.

"Care to try that again?" Arthur gave him a look.

Merlin sighed, "I ran out without breakfast," he offered lamely, "Forgot my lunch."

"Why not just go get some then?"

This time it was Merlin's turn to give HIM a look, "I was running round after YOU, in case you forgot," he huffed, "I didn't have time."

"That IS your job," Arthur brushed off, "Unless you're tired of it and want to find a new one."

"No," Merlin sighed.

This was what he got for being Arthur Pendragon's personal assistant. Abuse. Degradation. Humiliation. And that was on a good day.

"Well," Arthur shrugged, "I would have agreed to let you go get something to eat, had you told me earlier," he smirked when Merlin's hopeful expression fell, "But I need you to run up to my office and prepare my notes for the demonstration later."

Merlin blinked, "I can't just go get a quick…"

"No, sorry," Arthur cut in, not sounding sorry at all, "I need these notes as soon as possible."

Merlin winced as his stomach growled once more, he really was hungry, he hadn't had much of a dinner last night either, had been so tired he'd made a cup of soup and gone to bed halfway through. But it didn't look like he was going to be getting anything filling now either. He was just about to open his mouth with a resigned 'yes sir' when a commotion sounded behind them.

They looked over towards the entrance of the building, the sounds of the metal detectors stationed at the doors going off, only to see a young woman grabbing a microwavable soup out of a security guard's hand with a glare, clearly being the thing that had set off the detectors, before she shoved it into the brown bag in her hand and turned to them.

The second she spotted them standing there she beamed, "Merlin!" she cheered, rushing over to the man and throwing her arms around him, half leaping at him to hug him tight.

Arthur blinked at that, giving the girl in Merlin's arms an odd look, "Merlin, social visits are not for work hours," he told the boy with an exasperated air, "At least wait till your break to tend to your business with your girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" the girl in question scoffed, pulling herself away from Merlin to face him.

Arthur took a single moment to assess her, eyeing her up and down quickly. She wasn't anything spectacular, average height, a bit pale, black wavy hair held back in a messy ponytail, gangly and thin though. She had blue eyes, familiar eyes but he couldn't place where he'd seen them before, and a rather small mouth. She seemed to have taken to what all the other girls those days were wearing, leggings, black ones, with dark brown boots that laced up to her shins, and what seemed to be a lavender tunic with a deep V-neck, ¾ length sleeves that went mid thigh…not that he was looking at how long the dress was, no that wasn't proper.

"Right," the girl scoffed, giving him a look that said she thought he was clearly an idiot, "I'm his girlfriend? Well don't let our pastor know that then, he'd die of a heart attack, incest happening right under his nose!" she put her hand to her chest in mock shock.

"What?" Arthur shook his head, not following.

Merlin rolled his eyes, not expecting him to, "Arthur, this is my sister, Maria Emrys."

"Pleasure," Maria reached out to shake his hand, though Arthur seemed startled.

"Sister?" he stared at Maria a moment, "You…never said you had a sister, Merlin."

"You never asked," Merlin shrugged, grinning, rather enjoying seeing Arthur off balance.

Really though, how Arthur missed that they were siblings was beyond him, they had the same hair, same eyes, their mother swore they had the same smile.

"Trying to protect my virtue from a lecherous boss, brother dear?" Maria teased, taking full advantage of Arthur's apparent shock, "Let me return the favor, with lunch," she held up the brown bag.

"Oh thank you," Merlin beamed, taking the bag and peering inside, "Hold on, this is my lunch."

"As I said," Maria nodded.

"No, I mean this is MY lunch," he looked at her, "I made it yesterday and left it in my fridge…how…"

"I DID tell you I was coming to stay for a while," she reminded him.

"Yeah, but on Wednesday."

"It IS Wednesday, Merlin."

Merlin blinked, before quickly looking at the watch around his wrist, tapping it in frustration as the digital screen refused to light up a moment, "So it is."

"And you're in charge of my schedule?" Arthur scoffed, "Please tell me I haven't missed any appointments, Merlin."

Maria frowned at that for some reason, giving Merlin a questioning look but he ignored it to turn to his boss, "No, sir, no missed meetings."

"Good," Arthur nodded, before giving Merlin a look as though expecting something, only for Merlin to remain standing there, "My notes Merlin?" he sighed, "You may have scraped by without missing any meetings, but I did ask for those notes."

"Right," Merlin winced, "I'll um…I'll just go get those," he glanced at his sister, "Can she come?"

"Just…keep her out of trouble," Arthur waved them off.

Merlin grinned widely at that, putting an arm around his sister's shoulders and led her off towards the lifts, the two of them glancing back once they'd reached it to see Arthur watching them go with a curious look on his face before he shook his head and continued on to the main desk to speak to one of the girls working behind it, a girl with long brown hair and a round face that had him leaning over and smiling flirtatiously.

"You work for him?" Maria glanced at her brother as they got in the lift, the only two people in it.

Merlin sighed, "Sadly."

"HOW did that happen?" she shook her head, "You said you were coming here to assist Uncle Gus?"

Their uncle was the company's on-site physician.

Camelot, or Pendragon Security as it was officially known, was a very diverse security firm based in Albion, England. They dealt with all manners of protection for their clients, from training bodyguards and attack dogs to creating computer firewalls, from developing home-security systems to designing weapons for law enforcement, they even dabbled in probability technology to try to estimate future damages or worst-case scenarios as well as starting to branch out into different types of drugs though that was in the beginning stages. If you wanted to be safe, you came to Camelot for help.

Due to the training of the bodyguards, the company had hired on a doctor to tend to any wounds or mishaps that might have come from that, there was a small infirmary set up on one of the lower floors, nearer to the training site, where their uncle was stationed.

Merlin nodded at that, it was how he'd first come to Camelot. He'd wanted a job, a more permanent and secure one than the little odds and ends he used to do around their home town of Ealdor. He hadn't gone on to university, not really feeling a need for it or a desire, not having a particular interest that he loved so much that he wanted to make a career out of it. He was still trying to find himself and what he wanted to do with his life, their uncle had offered to let him come by and see what it would entail to be a physician's assistant if he were to decide to go to school for that.

He'd been there all of one day before he'd gotten into a scuffle with Arthur Pendragon himself. He'd stumbled onto the training site, Gus had wanted to speak to one of the bodyguards-in-training about a prior injury to do a routine checkup and sent him to collect. He'd come in on them more ganging up on one of the newer recruits and had tried to get them to stop…and nearly gotten beaten into a pulp by Arthur himself. Ended up in the infirmary instead with a bruised cheek and bloodied nose, almost got kicked out of the facility for good measure but he'd managed to stick around.

"I was," Merlin agreed, "I was in the wrong place at the right time and things…happened."

"Happened how?" Maria gave him a narrow eyed look, "Wrong place?"

He glanced at her for that, knowing that she meant something much more than just how it was the wrong place, "I may have…dabbled a bit," he offered, giving a pointed glance at the security camera in the corner of the lift.

Maria's gaze followed him to it and back, nodding slightly, understanding exactly what he meant by 'dabbled.'

"I found out that one of the new clients that was coming here to review a deal with Mr. Pendragon was an imposter," he shrugged, "She tried to set off a knockout gas and go after Mr. Pendragon, but I managed to knock one of the cubical walls over onto her, knocked her out and got the vents turned on to stop the gas affecting everyone. Got promoted for it."

"To what, Arthur's assistant?"

"Unfortunately."

"How's that fair?" Maria shook her head, "You come here to look into medicine and end up someone's…manservant instead?"

"Believe me, I know," Merlin muttered as the doors to the lift opened on the top floor, allowing them out and into a very wide office area. There were only three offices there, Mr. Pendragon's, the owner and creator of the company right at the end, Arthur's as the almost-co-owner to the right, and Arthur's adoptive sister, Morgan, her office too was on the left, she was in charge of the probability department, had actually been the one to talk Mr. Pendragon into investing in the tech in the first place.

"Come on," he nodded, "It's this way," he turned to the right, heading for the door to Arthur's office.

Just inside the door was a small wooden desk, Merlin's, with a computer resting on it, set up with a keyboard and printer, a phone beside it, scanner, the works really. The office was large, from what Maria could see. There was a water cooler a few feet away, a fax machine, copier, filing cabinet, a large corkboard with notes on it, stacks of paper everywhere, rubbish pail. The part of the office that was Merlin's was a bit smaller than what she could see of Arthur's. There was a set of armchairs lining the wall, a small table with them, and a door set into the wall just beside them that said 'staff only'. The wall cut off after that, the solid wood of it being replaced with glass that allowed a look into Arthur's office. It was enormous, a much larger desk than Merlin's was in there, more sleek and upscale, he had a large spinning chair with a high back, large windows set into the wall to give a view of the outside, letting light in. There was a bookshelf, chairs, a larger table for meetings, his own phone, and a name plate, of course.

"Merlin…" she breathed, just staring around at the size of the room. Merlin's office, while smaller than Arthur's, was larger than their uncle's entire flat.

"I know," he smiled a bit, "Arthur's a right pain in the arse, but the perks are pretty good," he moved over to the glass door to Arthur's office, "Can you get that set up while I get Arthur's bloody notes?" he nodded at the bag that she'd taken back from him, "There's a small refrigerator and microwave through there," he nodded to the 'staff only' door.

"Ooh but what if you get in trouble with the bossman letting me in there," Maria teased, though she was heading for it anyway, "Are there alarms going to go off if a non-staff enters?"

"Shut up," Merlin shook his head at her, laughing as he entered Arthur's office, letting his sister get his lunch set up for him while he made his way to Arthur's computer. He logged in easily enough, he really needed to talk to Arthur about changing his password from 'SonoftheDragon' which was just what his last name meant, and into something no one would think to use for his computer.

Like 'AbominableClotpole' or something like that.

He sighed though when he saw all the windows the man had opened. For being second in charge of the entire corporation, he was so cluttered on his computer, with so many internet searches and documents and other things open it was a wonder he hadn't been hacked into yet. Well, he supposed it was Camelot's thing, Arthur had the latest software and firewalls from their Computer Protection department on his computers. He would think his files were safe.

If only he knew.

He looked up when the door opened, to see his sister pushing it back with her bum, a plate of a sandwich in one hand, the soup in the other, and a bottle of water tucked under her arm, what looked like a baggie of biscuits tucked under the other.

"Well there goes my appetite," he joked, snagging the biscuits from her first.

"You'll eat them and like them," she mock-threatened, rolling her eyes at him, setting the food down and moving around the desk to rest against the chair, leaning over to see what he was doing, "Those are the notes?"

Merlin took a big bite of the sandwich and nodded, "Es gotdematen."

Maria blinked, "He's got a Dalmatian?"

Merlin laughed, "No," he swallowed, "He's got a demonstration later, he needs the notes."

"Those aren't notes," she shook her head, "Those are pictures."

"Yeah, they're what HE calls notes," Merlin corrected, "He's giving a demonstration for a self-defense class later, it's the first in a 4-day program. First is self-defense, then they bring in volunteers from the clients to let them try it. Next is offense, and the same thing, letting the clients try. They pair up a potential client against one of the Knights, er, the bodyguards," he offered, having thought of the little joke for the bodyguards and the ones in training, since it was Camelot they referred to themselves as the 'knights,' "He needs visual aids apparently. Company policy," he shrugged, "Needs me to print them out to be handed around. It's like a small advert to gain more clientele."

"Right," Maria nodded, "So, after you've gotten him his notes and the demonstration starts, you can leave then?"

Merlin winced, though whether it was from how hot the soup he'd been sipping was or because of her words she didn't know, "Yeah…that's the thing…I have to be there."

"Why?"

"I'm sort of…a part of it?"

She raised an eyebrow at that, "You're not exactly a posterboy for self-defense."

"I know," he sighed, "I'm the one they're demonstrating on."

She snorted, "And people really think THAT will help make them feel safer? It's not like you're all that threatening. No offense Merlin, but I could take you out when we wrestle."

"Yeah, I know, I told Arthur that, well," he took a bite of the soup, "Not told him THAT, but I told him I wasn't a good fit."

"And?"

"He doesn't care."

"So you're stuck?"

"Yep."

She let out a breath, "Well is there anyone you can ask for help to prepare so you're not completely hopeless against Arthur? Maybe give him a bit of a fight, even a little?"

Merlin was silent a moment before he smiled, "I think I may know someone…"

~8~

"Oomph!" Merlin grunted as he was thrown onto the ground, winded.

"Sorry!" a kind voice called as a young, lovely, black woman peered down at him, her hair held back in a tight ponytail, "But you're getting much better Merlin," she held out a hand to help him up.

"Thanks Gwen," he muttered, rubbing his back.

"Really," Maria called, having been watching from the side of one of the smaller training rooms, reserved for clients to be taught one on one instead of as a group, "Thank you."

Gwen, who had been introduced to her as Morgan's assistant/secretary, smiled at her, "It's no problem at all. Arthur could do with being taken down a peg or two. I mean!" her eyes widened, "I mean, he's…he's very skilled and he's worked hard for that skill but…"

"He's got an over inflated head?" Maria guessed.

"At times."

"At always," Merlin grumbled, trying to stretch and wincing, "I think that's all my body can take for the day, Gwen," he told her.

She'd been showing him basics, how to stop someone attacking from the front, and had only just gotten to showing him how to flip someone over her shoulder if they attacked from behind…which had landed him on his backside…but it was really all they had time for. He'd scarfed down the rest of his lunch in order to hurry out and find Gwen, knowing she'd been trained a bit at Morgan's insistence and would be the one most likely to treat him kindly while teaching. But he would have to leave soon before Arthur came looking for him. He could always claim that the computer had frozen and he'd had to restart it and that was why he hadn't been able to print out the demonstration pamphlets till now.

Which, actually, wasn't all that far from the truth or that odd an occurrence. Technology hated him, he was sure of it. Computers froze whenever he used them, printers jammed, fax machines went busy, the internet froze, his phone went staticed, his watch stopped. He really had the worst luck with it, which was probably why it was so ironic he worked in a place that relied heavily on tech and computers and phones and things. The only comfort was that his sister was just as unlucky with technology as he was, something that had caused her an enormous amount of stress when she'd been away at school the last while.

She'd gone to live with their Aunt, a professor of the social sciences, and had enrolled there for a minor degree in history. She'd only just completed it and had asked if she could stay with him till she found a place to work and a flat of her own. He'd said of course! She was his sister! But really it was their uncle's flat and he was overjoyed to have both his niece and nephew with him, he hadn't seen his niece in…years now that Merlin thought about it, more than a decade really.

"I understand," Gwen nodded, "I should be getting back to Morgan as well, she should be off her lunch break soon and she'll want to have the reports for the department on her desk when she gets back. It was really nice to meet you Maria."

"You can call me Ria, Gwen," Maria smiled, "Most people end up shortening my name even more anyway."

Gwen nodded and gave them a small wave, heading for the door, leaving Merlin to sigh, "Come on," he mumbled, "Time to face Arthur."

~8~

"Really?" Maria gave Arthur an unimpressed look as he stood before Merlin, the boy strapping small protective padding to him, not much, but enough for the prospective clients to realize that they were serious about protection and teaching, mostly around the knees, elbows, hands, with a safety padded helmet on their heads, "You can't put that on yourself?"

"Personal assistants assist," Arthur rolled his eyes, "It's in their job description."

"This isn't assisting, this is doing it for you."

Arthur ignored her.

Merlin had to smile at his sister's efforts, she was very big on people doing things for themselves when they could, he understood helping Arthur with his gloves, but everything else WAS excessive, "Are you nervous?" he asked casually.

Arthur scoffed, "I don't get nervous," he glared over at Maria as she snorted, "What?"

"Nothing," she held up her hands at him, smirking, "It's just impossible not to get nervous over something."

"I don't believe this is anything for you to comment on!" Arthur muttered under his breath, turning away from her, though he could see her smirking out of the corner of his eye, as though he'd revealed he was a bit nervous despite what he said.

"There we go," Merlin smiled, stepping back, "All set."

"I think you're forgetting something Merlin," Arthur gave him a look, but Merlin just looked confused, "The papers?"

"Oh!" Merlin nodded, hurrying to a small messenger bag of his and pulling a folder out with the papers in them, handing them over, "There you go."

"Right," Arthur sighed, "Now, you get ready for the demonstration, it starts in 2 minutes."

Merlin blinked at that, having hoped Arthur would have forgotten that little detail, "And he walks off without helping YOU get ready?" Maria shook her head.

"That's Arthur for you," he muttered as Arthur moved to the crowd, handing out the papers.

"Come here," Maria moved over to the padding storage area along the wall and tried to strap her brother up as best she could.

As much as she usually enjoyed watching demonstrations like this, fascinated with how a human could stop someone twice as big as them with half the force, she was quite sure she was not going to enjoy seeing her brother involved in it.

~8~

And how right she had been.

With every blow, no matter how gentle or 'slow' they had been as the men demonstrated defense moves on her brother, she winced. She was sure he was going to be sore tomorrow and she could only hope that Arthur would give him time off to recuperate.

The second the demonstration was over, the moment Merlin hobbled off the padded platform that had been set up, she was at his side, helping him walk with more ease.

"So what did you think Mia?" he wheezed.

Maria smiled a bit at the name. It really was quite funny, their names, how they both felt about them and what they called each other. Merlin had hated his name, always said it didn't fit, so he'd merged his first and middle name together, become 'Merlin,' which was even more funny given he worked in 'Camelot' to an 'Arthur Pendragon,' the irony was not lost on either of them. Her name, on the other hand, it was ordinary, plain, just Maria…except for the fact that, when Merlin had been young, he couldn't properly pronounce it for some reason, the R sound escaped him and she had been 'Mah-ee-yah' till it blended into Mia over time. He'd never grown out of that and she'd never told him to stop, it was his own special name for her and no one but her brother could call her it. Most of her friends called her Ria though, her full name, despite how short it was, always made her feel like she was being scolded by her mother to hear.

"It was interesting," she admitted, "Though I'd have found it more entertaining if it hadn't been my brother getting pummeled."

"Merlin!" Arthur called, walking over to them, clapping Merlin on the back, making him wince, "You did a good job."

"Did I?" Merlin sucked in a deep breath, "I couldn't tell…"

"Well you're still standing," Arthur shrugged, "You're the first that hasn't fallen down after a demonstration."

"Brilliant," he muttered.

"Mr. Pendragon," one of the men from the crowd came over to them, reaching out to shake his hand, "Marcus Valiant," he introduced, "That was a wonderful demonstration," he glanced over at Merlin and Maria, "Will we be seeing one for the women tomorrow?"

Maria frowned, narrowing her eyes at how the man was eyeing her up and down.

"All defensive maneuvers taught by Pendragon Security have been designed and created with both males and females in mind," Arthur started.

"Very good," the man nodded, pulling his gaze away from Maria, "I do hope we'll be allowed to try our hand with some maneuvers against the trainers soon?"

"Yes. It's our policy to demonstrate first, then allow those who have observed to replicate our teachings."

"I look forward to it," he gave them a nod and turned to go.

"Creep," Maria muttered, earning a nod from Merlin.

Arthur glanced at the two, seeing Merlin glaring at the man as he departed, and sighed, that would not be good business for his assistant to be glaring his clients off, "Merlin," he called, snapping the boy's attention back, "For tomorrow…"

"You can't be serious," Maria shook her head, "You're going to have him come into work tomorrow? He can barely stand!"

"But he IS standing, and it IS his job," Arthur remarked, waving it off, "I'm going to need more pamphlets geared for Day 2, and I'd like you to clear my schedule for lunch, for two hours, and book a reservation at that new restaurant down the street for this Saturday around 7pm, and make sure that the cleaning crew go through this room, it's starting to reek of sweat."

Merlin sighed, "Yes sir."

"Oh, and don't forget to transfer my data to my backup hard drive," Arthur added, "You know where the keys to my office are, be a dear and lock up before you go. Don't mind the cleaning crew if they pop in before you're finished."

Merlin groaned at that, knowing it meant that Arthur expected him to be in the office till the god awful hours of the night backing up his system, "Yes sir."

Maria just glared as Arthur smirked and walked off.

~8~

Maria smiled as she set down a steaming cup of tea before Merlin at the small kitchen table of their uncle's flat, an old laptop open before him, "You, brother dear, are a genius."

He smiled at that, taking a grateful sip of tea and sighing in delight, "Thank you. You know, I don't get told that nearly enough."

"You should," she moved a chair beside him and sat down, watching the numbers and letters flash across the screen, "This is brilliant," she pointed at something, "Automated transfer?"

He nodded, "Skips anything that hasn't been updated recently and only tracks the new documents."

Maria let out a whistle, "And how long did it take you to hack into Arthur's system? What with the company being the 'leading authority in technological security,'" she mimicked their motto.

"3 minutes."

Maria held up a hand to him, high-fiving him as she shook her head, "They really should hire people like us if they want to really be safe."

Merlin nodded though, to be fair, the only reason he'd gotten into Arthur and Pendragon Security's systems so easily was that he'd been inside the building and made a little loophole through the systems from his computer in Arthur's office. It was like a doorway that only he could get through. On a normal day, it could take him...hours, perhaps even a day to really effectively hack into a system like Camelot's. They really were striving to make their software impossible to hack and it took quite a bit of skill to manage to break through.

"Safe from what?" a voice called as the door opened.

"Uncle Gus!" Maria smiled, jumping up and running to hug him tightly, laughing at how she was taller than him now though tears came to her eyes as she saw how old he'd gotten since the last time she'd seen him.

He was a little old man now. Bald on the top of his head but with thick white hair around the sides, small black glasses perched on the tip of his nose, wearing a simple grey sweater and dark grey trousers, a bit hunched but that was to be expected. His one eye was a bit more shut than the other, a result of a minor stroke he'd suffered a few years back but had recovered well from since then.

"I…er…" Gus blinked, started by the sudden hug, but gave as good as he got, pulling away slightly before blinking at the girl in his arms, "Maria?"

She beamed at him, "Hello!"

"No," he shook his head, "You can't be little Ria! She was only 7 last I saw her!"

Maria blinked too, "That was 13 years ago Uncle."

"Was it?" he considered it a moment, "Right, yes," he nodded, "Yes it was, oh Ria!" he hugged her again, "I'm glad you've finally arrived, though I was expecting you with your brother."

"I know," she smiled apologetically, "There was a bit of a flub with my school, the system wouldn't count me as graduated."

"What? Why?"

"It kept registering me as Marayna Emrys instead of Maria," she shrugged, "I don't understand how it happened."

"Marayna?" Merlin sniggered, "That's not even a proper name."

"Yes, because Merlin is so much better," Maria rolled her eyes, moving to sit back beside her brother.

"And what are you two up to, hmm?" Gus walked around the table, catching the top of the laptop before Merlin could close it, his eyes widening before he whacked Merlin on the back of the head, "What have I told you about hacking!?"

"Um…" Merlin winced.

"Especially hacking into Pendragon Security!"

"I had to uncle," Merlin defended, "Arthur would have had me at his office for HOURS sorting through his files. This program will transfer it all automatically without me sifting through it. And then, it's like, why do it from there when I can do it from right here on my laptop," he pointed at it, "And…"

"Merlin," Maria called apologetically, taking his finger and tapping it at the computer, the screen now black.

"Oh wonderful," Merlin leaned forward to make sure all the wires were plugged in, it was all fine, but the computer had shorted out apparently the second he pointed at it, "Why does this always happen?"

"Maybe it's a sign you should leave well enough alone," Gus stated, turning to putter around the stove, planning to fix them dinner as they were sure to be in for a long night.

"I might be able to get it back," Maria tugged the laptop towards herself, "This happened all the time to me at school, right in the middle of typing papers and timed exams…" she shook her head, "Had to develop a program to get it back…"

"I will be your best friend forever if you get it all back," Merlin told her.

"I'm your sister, I'm already your best friend forever," Maria reminded him, not looking up as she tapped away, code after code.

"What about…"

"I don't count Will," she cut in, "There!" she smiled, getting the program back up, "Ooh, it's erased your automated transfer though…"

Merlin sighed, "Give it here," he tugged the laptop back over, pulling up a small notebook that he'd written all his plans and codes and algorithms in, repeating the code he'd used first.

~8~

The next day had gone much smoother for Merlin, though he was quite sure it was because Maria had insisted on going with him to Pendragon Security to help assist HIM throughout the day as he was still quite sore from the day before. He'd just sat in his chair all day and anything that needed doing elsewhere or involved getting up his sister would take care of. Arthur hadn't cared at all about having her around as he'd been rather impressed with Merlin right off the bat in getting the files all transferred and backed up before the day started, none the wiser that Merlin hadn't pulled an all-nighter for it.

He'd also seemed a bit distracted too, constantly on the phone with someone, arguing half the time, making sweet remarks the other half. Merlin had explained it was likely Arthur's girlfriend, Sophie, that he was on the phone with. They were in a 'long distance' relationship despite the distance only being about twenty floors down as she was one of the women at the front desk.

One last benefit of the day was that Merlin hadn't had to go to the demonstration. It seemed Arthur had been in such a good mood after his last conversation with Sophie that he'd let Merlin off. Besides, it was the day that the clients would be taught to go through the motions and practice on the bodyguards teaching them, so there was no need for Merlin to be there.

They'd gone home early for the day, had been sitting around the telly watching Doctor Who, some episode where the Doctor had gotten stuck in the middle of nowhere with a crowd of humans, with Maria constantly teasing Merlin that he looked like 'that Jethro bloke' through the entirety of it when their uncle came home in a right state.

Apparently one of the bodyguards had been brought to the infirmary and showing signs of being poisoned by snake venom. There was one small puncture mark that he could make out on the man, Ewan, he'd found it on the middle of his forearm, like an injection, but no one knew how it could have possibly gotten there. The symptoms were consistent with poisoning, according to their uncle, Ewan had a slow pulse, a fever, he was paralyzed…he'd had to be moved to the proper hospital for treatment but the doctors had told him that it didn't seem likely that Ewan would live, not unless they could identify the snake venom for an antidote

Which was why the two were huddled around Merlin's laptop, using their 'magic' to hack into the security system of Camelot, going through the files and recordings to track Ewan throughout the day. From what their uncle had said, the poison was fast acting and Ewan hadn't shown any signs of it according to the other bodyguards till late. But still, they found him on the surveillance, tracked him through the entire day, right to the demonstration.

They watched the footage continue, to a break in the demonstration, to the bodyguards heading over to get water, to Ewan as he leaned against a wall for a moment…before sliding down it, completely passed out as the others rushed to help him.

"It had to happen then," Merlin mumbled, tapping away and playing back the demonstration alone.

"Hold on," Maria pulled the laptop towards her, tapping in codes to blow the picture up, "Tell me that's not…"

"It is," Merlin nodded, seeing what she had noticed, the person that had been assigned to 'spar' against Ewan…was Marcus Valiant.

And not only that…the man was watching Ewan, the moment they broke for water, the man had been staring at Ewan the entire time, watching him far too intently for him to not be waiting for something to happen. And when it did, when Ewan collapsed, Marcus was the only one calm.

"Uncle!" they shouted.

"What?" Gus looked up from where he was going over Ewan's notes on the sofa, trying to make sure he hadn't missed anything. The last thing Pendragon Security would need was a lawsuit on negligence on his part.

"It was Marcus Valiant," Maria told him, "One of the clients," she added, knowing he might not have a clue who Marcus Valiant was.

"What?" he got up and moved over to them, "What have I told you…" he began when he saw what they'd done.

"Yes, yes, hacking bad, jail, blah, blah, blah," Merlin waved it off, "LOOK," he played the footage again, zooming in even more to the demonstration. They could see Ewan and Marcus talking, before Ewan motioned for Marcus to turn around, about to demonstrate an attack from behind. He moved towards Marcus, grabbing him once around the neck with his right hand, and around the middle with his left…and flinch, his left arm jerking, as though he'd been stuck with something.

"Was it his left arm that had the puncture?" Maria looked up at him.

"It was," he frowned, the footage playing out more, showing the break, how Ewan was walking away from Marcus, rubbing his left arm, shaking it out.

"He must have stuck him, injected him with the venom!"

"But how?"

"He could have hidden it under his shirt?" Merlin offered, "He was there during the first demonstration, he knew that he'd get a chance to participate in it this time. He knew how the men would grab him and where…he could have fixed it under his shirt so it would stick whoever grabbed him."

"So what do we do?" Maria looked at them, "We weren't there. We can't just…tell Arthur we found this out by hacking into the systems."

Merlin let out a breath, that was…the worst thing they could ever say to Arthur, that they'd hacked in. His father was…paranoid, about hackers especially, about moles, about betrayal. It was why he had branched out Pendragon Security so much, he wanted safety and security, in all areas of life. Anyone that was selling secrets to the 'enemy,' the competitors, would be in hell when Mr. Pendragon found out. Anyone hacking into the system would be…well, to be fired by Pendragon Security, in today's world, was a death sentence near enough, it could financially ruin someone, ruin their family. Mr. Pendragon boasted that his programs were the best, the most secure, despite his only real competitor, Dragoon Incorporated, being just slightly higher in the reviews than Pendragon Security. He boasted being the best, and if anyone, especially someone inside the company, could hack at it…it would destroy the company's reputation.

"We need proof then," their uncle put a hand on their shoulders, "Find some other way to prove what you know. You can't accuse Mr. Valiant of doing anything without proof, as much as the company hates damage to its reputation, it hates driving off clients more. The CEO would have your hide for causing him to lose business."

"And he'd never believe us anyway," Merlin grumbled, glancing at his sister when she gave him a confused look, "He's not very…warm to those lower on the employee scale," he explained, "He runs his business relying on his assistants and yet he'd never listen to any of them. To him, they don't understand the business and should just stick to answering phones and maintaining the schedules for him and Arthur and Morgan."

"Brilliant," Maria muttered.

~8~

Merlin and Maria made sure to be at the next demonstration despite Merlin having been told he wouldn't participate again…apparently he wouldn't be able to pull off being in a believable defense position without flinching every time someone moved at him…watching Marcus closely, seeing how intently he was watching the demonstration, now on the offensive. He was jotting down notes, his eyes never straying from the event before him.

Maria sighed as she saw how they were going about the offensive tactics, all of it would give anyone too much chance to strike someone and actually poison them. A punch to the stomach, a shove of the hand, a kick to the shin…there were too many ways to land a blow especially with the bodyguards teaching them how to land it and make sure it hit despite someone defending themselves.

"Uncle," Merlin greeted as he glanced over to see Gus joining them in the back corner.

"This isn't going to end well tomorrow," Maria murmured, "They're going to let the clients take part and who knows who Marcus will target then."

Gus nodded solemn, "I've been thinking," he told them quietly, "If we manage to find out which snake it was that the venom came from, the doctors could cure Ewan and he could speak for himself. He would surely recall the pain in his arm and who he was fighting. From HIS mouth it might be enough to investigate Mr. Valiant."

"But how are we going to find that out?" Merlin shook his head.

Maria squinted, seeing Marcus grinning, "Merlin…" she reached out to grab his hand gently, "Do you see that?" she nodded towards Marcus, "Do you see what he was taking notes on?"

"An iPad," he remarked, before his eyes widened, "Yes!"

Gus looked over as the two ran out of the room, not wanting to know. The less he knew about what they got up to the less he would be lying if he was ever asked.

~8~

It was all anyone in Camelot would talk about the next morning, how Ewan had woken from a coma thanks to an anonymous tip left with the doctors of Albion Hospital about what he'd been poisoned with. Everyone seemed to be under the assumption that whoever had poisoned him had felt so much guilt that they were now trying to save him.

And that was just fine, that was exactly what Merlin and Maria needed them to think.

Let them believe a would-be murderer had a change of heart than to realize two people had hacked into Marcus Valiant's computers and found his designs and schematics for how he'd poisoned Ewan along with an identification of the snake venom that was used. Valiant was…a severely disturbed individual, he'd been plotting this out for ages now and, from what they could gather of his notes, his target was actually Arthur. Apparently the man's brother used to work for Pendragon Security and had been fired, the man had been on his last legs when it happened, and it had driven him to the drink. He'd died and Valiant was now determined to seek revenge on Mr. Pendragon for what happened to his brother. He'd taken time to design a small syringe that held the venom within it, dispensing it the second it struck flesh. It was a small thing, able to be attached to the skin on one side. Valiant had known that one of the bodyguards would grab him around the side and stuck it there, he even had notes of where he planned to put the syringe for the offensive demonstrations.

"I wonder who it was," Arthur remarked as he sat on the edge of his desk, tossing a small koosh ball in the air, Merlin in the middle of going over his schedule for the day and having just gotten to the part about how Mr. Pendragon had scheduled for him, Morgan, and Arthur to visit Ewan after that night's demonstration, to check in on him in a show of care.

A care Mr. Pendragon clearly didn't feel as he was only doing this now that the man was up and now when he'd been admitted.

"Isn't it obvious?" Maria shook her head, wandering the back of his office, looking at various pictures and certificates framed on the wall, "It was that Mr. Valiant."

Arthur rolled his eyes, "He IS a snake, I agree, but not the sort that got to Ewan."

"She does have a point, Arthur," Merlin added, "Wasn't Ewan demonstrating with him?"

Arthur narrowed his eyes at Merlin, "How would you know?"

"Office gossip," Maria saved him from having to explain, "We're not the only ones who think Valiant managed to do that to Ewan."

They probably were, but that was besides the point.

"He was watching the demonstration," Merlin continued, "He could have known how Ewan was gonna grab him and stuck him."

"There's even a puncture mark," Maria nodded, "You can speak to Dr. Emrys. He found it on Ewan's arm," she lifted her left arm and rubbed her forearm.

"You're saying that Valiant attacked one of our bodyguards?" Arthur eyed them, "He wouldn't. We search all clients upon entering the building, he wouldn't have been able to sneak anything, least of all a syringe in there."

"It could have been a small one, hidden under his clothes, or he hid it somewhere else and stuck it on right before the demonstration. Your security isn't THAT good."

"Pendragon Security is the best in the world," he defended.

"And yet they let her in," Merlin nodded at his sister, "She's a right menace. Complete danger to others her."

"Love you too Merlin," Maria rolled her eyes.

"Look," Merlin sighed, "The doctors, they've made an antidote from the venom, yeah?" Arthur nodded, "So when you go to visit Ewan later, ASK him. Ask him when he first felt the puncture. My money is on when he was fighting with Valiant."

"The venom too," Maria walked over, resting her hands on the back of Merlin's chair, "The snake it came from? We looked it up, it can only be found in one area…"

"Let me guess, where Valiant's from?" Arthur scoffed.

"Yes," they nodded, dead serious.

Arthur frowned at that, as far as he knew, Valiant was the only one of the clients from that particular region. He eyed the two a moment, if that was true, what they said about the snake, then that was rather firm evidence that Valiant was likely the culprit, "I want you to swear to me, what you're telling me is true."

"I swear it's true," Merlin promised as his sister nodded.

"Then..." Arthur seemed to struggle with what he was about to say, "I believe you. I'll speak to my father about this."

~8~

Maria smiled a bit as she walked back into Pendragon Securities, feeling rather pleased with herself. She'd had an appointment, an interview, with a local museum, for a job giving tours and talking about the different artifacts in certain departments and branches of it. She'd had to leave Merlin alone with Arthur to attend the meeting around lunch, but it had been worth it. If she got the job she'd be very relieved, the only other option was to ask Merlin if he knew if there were any other jobs open at Camelot and she would rather set herself on fire than be stuck working around Arthur that much.

She made her way through the front desk and up to the top floor, about to check in with Merlin when she saw her uncle across the hall, about to knock on Mr. Pendragon's office door, "Uncle?"

"Ria," he greeted her as she walked over to him, "I'm glad to see you my dear."

She frowned, seeing the expression on his face, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's Ewan," he told her, "I've just been informed by the doctors that he's passed on."

"What?"

He nodded, "I was about to inform Mr. Pendragon," he gestured to the door and knocked on it gently.

A moment later the door was opened by a middle aged man, Mr. Pendragon's assistant, who promptly let them in as Dr. Emrys was a respected friend of Mr. Pendragon and Mr. Pendragon had an open door policy when it came to Dr. Emrys.

They both stopped short when they saw what was going on inside the room, Arthur was on one side, with Merlin beside him, while Marcus Valiant himself stood on the other side, his arms crossed, looking both smug and offended at once, while Mr. Pendragon sat at his desk in the middle of the large, imposing room, his elbows on the desk, the tips of his fingers together as he looked at his son over the top of them.

"I am telling you, father," Arthur was speaking, "When we visit Ewan, we can ask him himself, but for the time being, I cannot in good conscious allow Mr. Valiant to participate in the demonstration given his involvement with Ewan's poisoning."

"Why wait till later?" Marcus countered, "I'm sure a man of your importance, Mr. Pendragon, could call the hospital up and speak to Ewan right this very moment. I have no qualms with him being questioned about this."

"Dr. Emrys?" Mr. Pendragon called, seeing him slowly approaching with Maria behind him, "What have you to say about this?"

Gus looked at Merlin and Arthur with a sigh before informing them, "I'm afraid Ewan has died."

"What?!" Arthur had the same reaction as Maria.

"I was just informed by the doctors that he passed," he nodded, "He'd been administered a second dosage of the venom."

"And here I am," Valiant gestured to himself, "Standing before you, not in the hospital, completely unable to do anything even if I had been the one to poison him the first time."

"That is all the proof I need," Mr. Pendragon stood, looking at his son, "Did you see, Mr. Valiant, physically puncture Ewan?"

"No," Arthur frowned, "But good, logical points were brought up to me by my assistant and his…"

Mr. Pendragon scoffed, "Your assistant," he muttered, "You made these outrageous accusations against one of our potential clients, on the word of your assistant, whom, I believe, was not even there to witness the event at all."

"Father, the points they brought up were…ARE sound," Arthur defended, "If you just…"

"They?" Mr. Pendragon cut in, "You have ONE assistant Arthur, who is this second 'they?'"

"Merlin and…"

"And who?!"

"Me, sir," Maria stepped beside her uncle.

"And who are you?"

"Um," Merlin spoke up, "She's my sister. She's visiting."

"And was SHE present during this?"

"Um…no?"

"Then she has no say either," he looked at his son.

"I must admit," Valiant spoke, "I find this all rather unprofessional that I am being called in here and accused of such atrocious acts on the say of some children. Perhaps I should take my business elsewhere and invest in another company more trusting of their clients. I've heard Dragoon Incorporated is rather agreeable…"

"I offer you our most sincere apologies, Mr. Valiant," Mr. Pendragon offered, "I know you have been most interested in the demonstrations. As a show of good faith, I would like to suggest Arthur be assigned your partner tonight. Arthur?"

Arthur's jaw tensed at that, his hands curled into fists, more at the sheer embarrassment he'd suffered in front of his father. So all he could do was give a curt nod, before turning to storm out of the office. Merlin and Maria exchanged a look before hurrying after him, cutting off Mr. Pendragon continuing to try and placate Valiant as they went.

Everything was silent, until Arthur reached his office, which was thankfully empty, and rounded on them, "I believed you!" he yelled, "I trusted you and you made me look like a complete idiot in front of my father!"

"Well, er," Merlin glanced at Maria and back, "We know it didn't go exactly to plan…"

"'Didn't go to plan?'" Arthur mocked, "My father just had to apologize to a client," he told them, as though it was the most devastating thing to happen, "And now he thinks I'm completely incompetent! You humiliated me!"

"It's not that bad," Maria shook her head, "There has to be a way to get the truth out of Valiant then and…"

Arthur just held up his hand and looked at Merlin, "You're fired."

"What?!" Merlin gaped, and this time it really WAS the most devastating thing to happen.

"You're firing him?" Maria shook her head, "For what?"

"For slander," Arthur added, "For incompetency," he shrugged, "I need someone who won't spread lies in my ear and lead to that. I need someone I can trust."

"You can trust me," Merlin stressed

"Yes, and look where that got me," Arthur glared, "Now get out. Pack your desk, and get out of this building or I'll have security escort you out."

And, with that, Arthur shoved past them and stalked out of the room, leaving Merlin standing there, wide eyed and open mouthed.

But Maria, on the other hand, was far more angry than shocked and moved after him, following him down the hall and shoving her hand into the lift doors, keeping them from closing and letting herself into the lift with him.

"How dare you?" she demanded as the doors closed.

"I don't have to answer to you," Arthur pushed the button for the lobby angrily.

"Like hell you don't. You don't get to fire my brother for no good reason."

"It was a very good reason! And if you do not stop harassing me I'll…"

"You'll what?" she cut in, crossing her arms, "I'm not one of your employees, I don't work for you, you don't scare me. How could you do that to Merlin!? He's done nothing but assist you and do all your ridiculous errands and make sure you're on time and have your damned coffee in the morning and you…you just cast him out like he didn't mean anything! Like he was nothing! He helped you're your entire company and this is how you repay that? By firing him from it?"

"I wouldn't expect you to understand what he has done, what you both have done," Arthur glared as the doors opened, letting them out onto the first floor, "You both betrayed my trust in you. You obviously lied to me. You let me make a fool of myself in front of the CEO of the company. Your brother deserved what he got."

That…was not the best thing to say to an angry Maria, not at all.

Because the next thing he knew, there was a shout, something about him being a…clotpole, before a fist had flown right at his face, a firm right hook right to the jaw…

~8~

"We are NOT telling mum about this, Merlin," Maria muttered two hours later as she and Merlin walked out of Albion's police office.

"Oh yes," Merlin rolled his eyes, "Why would we tell our mother that you got arrested? How did that even happen?" he shook his head at her, leading her around the corner and heading down the street. Luckily the jail had been within walking distance of Pendragon Security and he hadn't had to wait for any transport to go get his sister.

He'd just been finishing up clearing out his desk into the plastic bag around his wrist, when he'd gotten a call from her that she needed him to come bail her out of jail.

That was not something he'd been expecting on top of getting sacked.

"Apparently punching a prat in the face is grounds for an assault charge," she muttered.

Merlin had to smile at that, "You punched Arthur?"

"I think I broke my hand," she shook out her right hand, her knuckles were a little red and raw but not too bad off.

He let out a breath, "You're really lucky that people saw you both fighting before you clocked him," he told her, "He's not pressing charges."

"Good," Maria sighed, "I'm sorry Merlin," she told him, "I really am, that you got sacked."

He shrugged, "It was bound to happen at some point," he tried to make light of it, but the worry about what he'd do now for a job still niggled in his gut, "I'm a terrible personal assistant. Speaking of jobs though," he changed the subject from himself quickly, "How did your interview go?"

She smiled a bit, "I think it went well," she looked over, across the street, and nodded, "It's right there, actually," she pointed, "Want to stop in?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "I could do with a distraction."

They carefully looked both ways before heading across the street and into the museum. They made a small donation at the front desk and got a little badge to enter, and just…wandered.

"Ooh, over here," Maria smiled, pulling him towards a wing of paintings, "This one's my favorite."

Merlin looked at the title, "'The Golden Age of Camelot,'" he read, before glancing at the painting. It was a castle, a magnificent castle, with red banners that had golden dragons on them waving in the breeze. There were small people wandering about, too small to really make out any distinguishing features, but it looked like a small coronation was happening, someone with black hair was kneeling while another person held a grown above them, "I thought Camelot fell though."

"That IS what the legends would have you believe," a voice said behind them, making them jump.

There was an old man behind them, wrinkled, but smiling at them, with short gray hair and sparkling blue eyes, his voice deep with a lovely drawl to it though. He was dressed in a simple suit, a bit brown though it seemed to have an almost golden hue to it.

"Forgive my interruption," he chuckled.

"Merlin," Maria smiled, "This is the curator," she introduced, "Mr. Garren."

"Killian, please," the man held out a hand to shake Merlin's.

"Sir, this is my brother, Merlin."

"Ooh," he gave a smile at that, "Like the Archmage of Camelot are you?"

"No, no," Merlin shook his head, "No, I'm not quite that old yet, no beard either," he gestured at his jaw which only held a hint of black stubble.

"No," Killian eyed him, "No I don't suppose you are," he glanced at Maria, looking at her a long moment as well, "Ah well, a man of legend he was."

"Legends, yeah," Merlin nodded, "I thought Camelot did fall though, that's what all the stories say."

"There are always two sides to every story though," the man remarked wisely, "Much like there are two sides to every coin. This portrait," he stepped closer to it, "Represents another version of the legend. One where Camelot flourished for centuries after it was said to fall to ruin, due in large part to the new Queen, who provided King Arthur with two strong children. This here," he pointed to the black-haired man being crowned, "Is their son, William, it's said. On his coronation day."

"I thought Queen Guinevere couldn't have children though."

"She couldn't," Killian agreed, "But she isn't the queen I speak of. Ooh, the Witch Queen, the High Priestess of the Old Religion, she was called, sister of Merlin."

"Merlin didn't have a sister."

"Oh thanks," Maria teased, nudging him.

"You know what I mean," Merlin smiled, "I meant back then, in the stories. No sister."

"Some stories," Killian corrected, "That is the wonder of legends, after all, there are many different versions of them, many different translations, often quite different than what we believe happened. For example, Robin Hood and his Maid Marian, yes?" they nodded, "Or is it Robin Hood and his Queen Clorinda?" they gave him a confused look, making him chuckle, "In some versions of his legend, he loves not a maid but a queen. Such is the same with Camelot, in some legends Arthur marries his Guinevere, in others, he has a different love."

"Who?" Maria asked.

Killian let out a sad breath, "And, as with legends, some parts are lost to us," he gave a shrug.

"But wait," Merlin shook his head, "If this…sister, that Merlin had, if she was really his sister, wouldn't she have been too old to marry Arthur? Merlin was an old man."

Killian chuckled, "Ah but he possessed magic," he reminded them, "He could have merely made himself LOOK old when it suited him. In this version," he gestured at the painting, looking at it fondly, "He was a young man," he glanced at Merlin, "As young as you, I'd say. Manservant to Prince Arthur before he became king."

Merlin scoffed at that, "No way, there's no way Merlin, the wizard, would be anyone's servant."

"He felt that way as well," Killian nodded, "But it was his destiny to protect Arthur, as it was his sister's to love him. And no one can escape their destiny."

"If that Arthur is anything like our Arthur, I pity him," Merlin muttered, "I bet he wasn't as much a…clotpole as ours is."

"He was probably worse," Maria scoffed, "THAT one would have been an actual prince, could you imagine the ego?"

Merlin had to nod at that, that was a good point.

"I would imagine it would be quite something," Killian mused, "If this legend is true, this Merlin tried to leave behind his destiny. The Prince was arrogant, that is true, he did not make Merlin or his sister's life easy. Often they fought, often they were hurt, and often they wanted to give up on the Prince."

"So what kept them there?" Maria looked at the picture, at the small blob that was the son of King Arthur and his other wife, "Why stay if they were always being hurt and put down?"

Killian let out a long breath, "They were the only ones that could protect him," he said simply, "They were the only ones that saw what others did not. They could not bear the thought of a life ending because they were not there to save it."

Merlin and Maria glanced at each other and back at the portrait, not even hearing Killian take his leave nor see him go with a small smirk on his face.

~8~

Merlin and Maria strode through the halls of Camelot, heading for the rooms the demonstration was going to be held in. Thankfully word hadn't quite spread to everyone that Merlin had been fired and the front guards and desk had let him in with little trouble, the two of them hurrying, trying to make it there before the demonstrations began.

As luck would have it, for once, it was on their side and they reached the rooms just as Arthur finished up his opening speeches and stepped off to the side, allowing two of the 'knights' to do a quick refresher on the tactics from the day before.

"Arthur!" Merlin hissed as they made their way over to where he was struggling to get his second glove on, "Oh, give me that," he huffed, grabbing the glove from him.

"I thought I fired you Merlin," Arthur glared though he allowed Merlin to get the glove on him.

"You fired HIM," Maria reminded him, "How's the jaw?"

Arthur's eyes narrowed at her, "Come to apologize?"

"Not a chance."

"Look," Merlin cut in, "We know you're going to face Valiant, we get it, you won't back out, your dad won't let you but…you've got to be careful."

Arthur rolled his eyes, "I've taught all these men, Merlin, they've taught our clients, I am the safest one here."

"No, you're really not," Maria shook her head, "Look…" she glanced at Merlin, who nodded, and leaned in to speak to Arthur more quietly, "Chances are, if Valiant really was the one to poison Ewan, he's going to try to poison whoever he's fighting today too. And it's offense, he'll have more opportunity to hit you."

"We think he might be hiding the syringe with the venom in his gloves," they glanced over to Valiant who was standing there, trying to seem like he was focusing on the demonstration, though he kept fiddling with his glove on his right hand.

Arthur frowned at the sight.

"If he tries to come at you with his right hand, do your best not to get hit," Maria added, "The poison will work fast and now that Ewan's dead, it'll probably be a stronger dose, you'll be dead before you can hit the ground."

Oh they really hoped he was buying their 'guesses.' They'd seen the plans on Valiant's computers, he'd worked out how to slip the syringe into the glow, fix it right to the underside of one of the gloves so no one would see it, but that, if he hit Arthur the right way, the boy would get stuck with it. They'd seen his plans, and they'd seen that it included and up in the dosage.

A quick hack into Albion Hospital's visitor's log just after they'd left the museum, more determined to stop this than before, had revealed that Ewan had a guest come visit him. The security footage proved it to be Valiant, who had gone to see Ewan just that morning. Only a short while after news had broke that Ewan woke up. No one thought anything of Valiant being there, it was a client visiting his instructor. And no one had guessed he'd poisoned Ewan with a second dosage as it had been diluted, had taken longer for the symptoms to kick in, for Ewan to go into shock and pass. Enough time for Valiant to be seen elsewhere right at the time of death.

They just had to hope that Arthur would buy that they were 'guessing' at this instead of realize they KNEW.

"If you can," Merlin added, "Try to grab his arm, see if you can get a look at the glove. You can call the demonstration if you see anything odd on the glove, can't you?"

Arthur looked back at them, eyeing them intently, seeing that they were dead serious, holding his gaze, their shoulders set, ready to fight him if he denied this. And something in him told him not to, not to discredit what they were saying. Everything they'd told him before, it still made sense to him despite how angry he was at having had his father shouting at him and treating him like he was being ridiculous for listening to them. Their points held, and so did these.

He gave them a curt nod and turned to head back to the demonstration, leaving them with no choice but to watch as the event continued as normal, the bodyguards breaking up to pair with the clients, Arthur taking Valiant himself, going through the offensive motions that Valiant would be copying and using against him. They held their breath, watching the two men begin and it became clear far too quickly that Valiant was truly trying to land a blow at Arthur with his right hand.

He wasn't even copying the offensive moves anymore, he was literally just trying to swing at Arthur, making a valiant effort to do so, but Arthur was doing a better job of keeping back. Maria gasped when, in one motion, Arthur managed to grab the man's arm and twist it up behind him, giving him a clear and close look at the glove in question.

"Breach!" he shouted out, the other bodyguards immediately stopping their own demonstrations and running to Arthur's side at the cry that their security had been breached.

They grabbed Valiant and yanked him down, letting Arthur pull the man's glove off and, very carefully, peel the syringe off of it. He peered at it a moment and then to Valiant, on his knees, glaring up at him, and shook his head, "Now, they see you for what you really are," he stated, "Take him to confinement," he told two of the men holding Valiant down, looking to a third, "Call enforcement," and a fourth, "And inform my father of the breach."

The men nodded and quickly went to do as they were ordered, Arthur looking to the remaining men, "Double up," he told four of them, "And continue with the program."

He waited a moment to make sure that everything was resuming with easy, smirking a bit when he heard various clients whispering that that had been an incredible thing to watch, the true safety precautions and training coming into play, giving them a better display of what Pendragon Security was all about. He looked over at Merlin and Maria, nodding to them in thanks.

~8~

That night a group of the bodyguards dragged Arthur to a local pub for a drink after the attempt on his life, feeling that the man deserved a night out. His father had, of course, not really acknowledge that he'd been wrong in how he handled the situation, how he'd overreacted, but Arthur felt it had a bit to do with the fact that admitting to it would mean admitting he'd basically sent his son to his death in partnering him with the man trying to kill him.

He looked up from chugging down a pint to the cheers of a few of his mates, to see his sister walking over to him with Gwen, "Morgan," he smirked, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

"Charming," Morgan shook her head at him, "Have you seen Merlin anywhere?"

"Merlin?" Arthur frowned, "What do you want with him?"

Morgan rolled her eyes, "Gwen told me his sister came to visit. I was busy before but I wanted to meet her."

She really had. It was…odd, the moment Gwen had mentioned Merlin's sister was there, started talking about her, she'd felt this odd wave of déjà vu, felt this need to meet the girl. It was a good feeling though, it made her…happy, excited, and relieved at the same time and she didn't know why. But she was hoping, when she got to meet the girl it might be clearer. Perhaps it was just because she was Merlin's sister, but she didn't really know…

"I don't think she's here, either of them. I don't think that they'd know to be here and…"

"I invited them," Gwen spoke up, before stepping back when both siblings looked at her, "I mean…I hope that's ok. Merlin's still my friend even if you fired him."

"You FIRED him?" Morgan's eyes narrowed, making Arthur wince, "Arthur!"

"I know, I know," he sighed, knowing Morgan had a soft spot for the big-eared idiot.

"Oh, there they are!" Gwen smiled, "Merlin! Maria!" she waved them over.

Arthur turned around, ready to greet/apologize to them when his mouth dropped open. Maria had her hair free, hanging around her face in gentle waves, held half back by a clip behind her head. She was dressed in a light blue dress that was hugging her curves, small sleeves over her shoulder, the dress going down to mid thigh, with black flats on her feet. He swallowed hard, trying not to let his eyes wander…and blaming the alcohol he'd just chugged when they inevitably did.

"Merlin," Morgan smiled at him, "Is this your sister?"

"Uh, yeah," Merlin stuttered a bit at Morgan's grin, "Mia…Maria," he corrected, "This is my sister, Maria. This is Morgan."

"Nice to meet you," Maria reached out to shake Morgan's hand.

"I've heard a lot about you from Gwen," Morgan nodded at her friend beside her, "I've been wanting to meet you for a while. I'm sorry it took this long though."

"It's fine," Maria waved it off, "Merlin mentioned you were busy."

Among other things.

Somehow, oddly enough, Morgan tended to find her way into Merlin's everyday conversation, repeatedly, at length.

She was never letting her brother live it down.

"I love your dress," Morgan added.

"Oh, thanks," Maria looked down, tugging at it, "I um…it actually was dropped off at our uncle's flat before with a note to come to the pub."

"But…I sent Merlin a text," Gwen frowned at that, seeming confused.

Morgan just smiled, though it was more of a smirk now, "Interesting."

Maria glanced over at her, lifting her eyebrow just slightly at Morgan's reaction, if she didn't know any better, she would have thought Morgan had sent her the dress…but that would require knowing where she lived and that she was staying at her uncle's instead of finding her own place…which no one knew but Merlin and Arthur and she doubted the man would mention something like that to Morgan.

Odd…

"What do you think Arthur?" Morgan turned to her brother, who was still staring at Maria.

"Um…nice?" Arthur offered.

Beautiful would have been a better word…if she had been beautiful. But she wasn't. She wasn't because he did NOT see her like that. Not at all. Not Merlin's sister. No. No, no, no. No.

Yes.

But no!

"I need a drink," Arthur said quickly, turning to head to the bar to get another.

Maria glanced at Merlin, who was smiling and trying not to look at Morgan, who was grinning and trying to get him to look at her, to Gwen who was shaking her head at the two of them as though this were a common occurrence, and over to Arthur, before patting her brother's arm and making her way after the blonde man.

"You know," she leaned on the bar next to him, "I think my brother is STILL waiting on an apology from a rather large toddler that threw a tantrum before."

Arthur rolled his eyes at that, "Despite the trouble you both caused me," he spoke, "I…do feel bad about firing him," he could admit that, "You were right, in the end."

Maria smirked at that, "Well, good thing I'm here then, because I know just the way to make it up to him."

"And what's that?"

She pointed at the beer in his hand, "Buy him a drink."

"It would be unprofessional to do that."

"I don't see us standing in an office," she countered, "It's after hours and I'm pretty sure you haven't actually rehired my brother yet. So, not unprofessional at all."

"Yes, well…I acted rashly," he muttered, "I'm…considering rehiring Merlin," he took a swig of the drink, "And I suppose, if you are going to be around your brother, I might as well hire you too."

She shook her head, "I've got another job already."

He eyed her for that, "Really?"

She nodded, "Well…waiting to hear back."

"Then you don't have one," he smirked, "So, how about this, you work for me as my…secretary, till this 'other job' calls you. If you get it, best of luck. If not, then you've at least got a job at one of the top security corporations in the world."

Maria almost snorted at that, he was making it sound like the company itself had an ego as big as his won, "Sounds fair," she agreed, "But if I were you, I'd be very sure you know what you're getting yourself into hiring me along with my brother," she gave him one more smile before she turned and walked over to Morgan and Gwen, starting to talk to the two women as he watched her go.

"Her eyes are up there," Merlin's voice called from next to him, making him jump, not having seen Merlin even make his way over let alone appear on his other side.

"Of course they are," Arthur took another deep drink of his beverage.

Merlin shook his head at that, glancing around at the handful of other men in the pub that had noticed his sister, trying his best to glare at each of them in turn though they hardly noticed.

"Look," Arthur sighed after a moment, "I wanted to say…I made a mistake. It was unfair to sack you."

Merlin shrugged, "Buy me a drink and we'll call it square."

Arthur laughed at that, that was exactly what Maria said to do, "ONE drink," he warned, turning to motion to the barkeep for one more drink, "Last thing I need is you turning up at the office tomorrow hungover and your sister needing to lug you around."

"Why would my sister be lugging me around?" Merlin frowned.

"Well, since you're complete rubbish at remembering what DAY it is," Arthur remarked, "I've decided to split your duties. You'll still be my personal assistant, but your sister will be my secretary. She'll be in charge of my schedule and phone calls, and you can handle everything else."

Merlin had to smirk at that, "I hope you know what you've just gotten yourself into," he warned, leaning back to take the beer the barkeep was handing him.

"I'm starting to think I should be concerned," Arthur murmured dryly.

Merlin, though, was dead serious as he nodded, "You should be."

When he and his sister were together…there was no telling what would happen.

A/N: I HAD to make Marayna's new name Maria, I HAD to lol :) After all the people who got her name wrong in the original story and kept calling her Maria, I just had to do it ;) Lol :) I can say that some people will have new names, others will have the same (though I can say Merlin's name is actually a nickname here), some characters will appear earlier, some later. But all of them will, visually, be the same actors/actresses as in the show/story, so Maria looks a bit like Natalie Dormer :)

Sadly...I can say there will be no magic in this story :( There WILL be some allusions to it, to the past magic that Merlin and his sister had, small little glimpses of something off about them that'll get more clear as the story goes ;) I strongly considered making this a bit more of a future-modern story, sort of like Agents of SHIELD in dealing with inhumans and others with enhanced abilities, allowing the magic to manifest in another way, but I really wanted to challenge myself and make this story feel like it really could be happening in the modern day and age, like it could be happening in our world right now :) I really wanted to see just how much I could change to fit our world but still make it clear how it relates to the original story. I wanted it to have more of a paralleling feel, like you recognize some moments and scenes from the original story even if they happen differently or with different people, that it's still familiar :)

So here, magic = hacking :) Which actually fit in really well with what I have planned for other things to come :) I hope you liked my interpretation of what Camelot was and that things are clear and interesting enough even without the magic :) I tried not to cram too much into just the first chapter in terms of explaining every little difference from the original series and how it fit to our world, we'll learn more and more as we go, but I hope it was ok :)

I've also decided to make the area it's all taking place in a city that is also called Albion. I know that Albion is an archaic name for Great Britain but I feel like, if certain states can have cities named after the entire state (New York, New York, Kansas City, Kansas, etc) that it might be ok to have the sort of 'fictional city' this happens in be Albion too :) If that's completely wrong or offensive or anything at all, please let me know and I'll come up with another city name :) I'm going to try and keep true to the terminology and words used for a story based in England, like...'lift' instead of 'elevator' and things, so if there's every anything in the story that's more the American version of a word or something, just let me know and I'll be sure to fix it ;)

And, on 2 final notes, the title, as with the original series all relating to the life cycle of a fire, a Flashover is when a fire seems to have been put out, where it dies down, but one small breath of air causes it to flare to life once more, usually bigger and more powerful than before, which I thought was fitting for the story :) I also don't think other chapters will be quite as long as this one lol, just to warn ;)