Muse declared that it wanted to work on this story, so here's the second chapter!

Chapter 2

Morgana's feeling rather damp and chilly by the time she reaches the door of the tower block. Once she's inside, she pulls off her gloves and tucks them in her bag, then pulls out her phone.

The screen lights up with a note indicating a new message has arrived. She frowns down at it. Who would be sending her a text message at this time of night? She swipes the screen to unlock it and opens the message. It's from Morgause. Well, at least that makes more sense, she's texting her to ask how her job went.

Waiting in your flat. I need to talk to you.

Morgana sighs, and resists the urge to roll her eyes. As much as she cares about her sister (well, half sister, technically) she wishes that the older woman would stop letting herself into her flat while she's not there. At least she sends her a message now to inform her that she's there - the first time Morgause had done this, Morgana had walked in to find another person standing in her living room and had nearly had a heart attack.

It's not that she doesn't trust her, but she does like to have some down time after a job. Most of her conversations with Morgause recently have been related to some serious issue at work, and right now she's not in the mood for it. Her heart has only finally calmed down after hearing those sirens. Oh well, such is life. It can't always turn out the way you want it to. Hers just seems particularly determined to prove that at the most annoying of times.

She tucks her phone away and trudges tiredly to the lift, pushing the 'up' button. Usually she takes the stairs, after all, her flat is only on the fifth floor. But tonight has been too long, and she doesn't feel like expending the extra effort. She chews her lower lip in thought as she wonders what exactly her sister wants to address with her, and almost doesn't notice when a chiming noise rings out and the doors open. She walks into the lift, still distracted by her wondering.

When the doors of the lift open again, having arrived at their destination, Morgana shuffles out of the box and over to her door. The key clicks in the lock, and she pushes the door open. Her sister, sitting on the couch, rises to greet her.

The blonde woman smiles as she approaches. "Morgana! How are you, dear? How did your assignment go tonight?"

The heavy door swings shut behind Morgana, and she sets her bag down on a nearby stool. "I have the information Cenred needs," she replies, rummaging through the bag and pulling out the flash drive. She places it in her sister's outstretched hand, and proceeds to unzip her jacket. "The police were fast tonight," she begins, slipping the jacket off of her shoulders and hanging it on the coat rack. Her sister can see the stress etched across the younger woman's face. "Morgause, I know we've been spacing these out well, but I think they're beginning to figure us out. It's been almost two years now. It's not impossible to think that they have started to piece together who's been behind all of those previous office break ins." She pauses, knowing her sister won't like what she's about to say. "I think it would be a good idea to hold off on any more of these jobs for a while. Make sure the coast is clear before we continue on with this."

Morgause's face slips into an unreadable mask, losing all feeling it had shown earlier upon greeting her sister. Morgana recognizes his face well, she's seen her sister use it on many an occasion in meetings when she's hiding what she really thinks. She rarely uses it with her. Morgana has never been one to feel intimidated by people in a position of power, but this look makes her feel unsettled. She doesn't want to disappoint her sister, nor does she want to incur her wrath. Already, she feels like she's managed to do both.

"Morgana, dear," Morgause begins, the tone of her voice sounding as though she is talking to a young child who is incapable of understanding the greater meaning of life, "I can assure you there's nothing to worry about. Cenred has been making sure that no one suspects us." She saunters back over to sit on the couch, beckoning with her finger for the brunette to do the same. Morgana quirks an eyebrow slightly at this, her sister directing her to sit in her own house. It's not her place to do so, but she obliges and lowers herself into the lounge chair across from her.

The blonde lazily waves her hand about as she speaks. "We are aware that it's best to space these things out. Cenred does have another job for you, but that won't be for another two weeks." Morgana opens her mouth to protest, two weeks! That's not spacing them out at all! Morgause raises a hand to silence her younger sister. "I know you don't think it's ideal, but this new company is a threat."

Leaning closer, Morgana asks, "Which company?"

"Nemeth." Morgause's eyes take on a deadly gleam, and the one side of her lips lift ever so slightly into a cold smile. "They are new, up and coming, and coming quickly. Essetir Incorporated won't be put out of business by them right now, but it will definitely take away from our client base. They seem popular, who knows what may happen in a few years." Shrugging, she continues. "We'd rather not find out, so that's why Cenred wants you to get the information that can help us take them down now."

Morgana hesitates. This whole charade initially started off as a way to rebel against Uther and his kind. Old, greedy men who couldn't give a damn about anything other than the bottom line and promoting their own name. And it had felt amazing at first. Now though, now she's beginning to question it. A few large companies here and there, fine. They weren't shut down, but they were knocked down a peg or two on the business ladder by information that was suddenly made known to their rivals.

But new companies?

"That hardly seems fair to be attacking them as they emerge."

And, frankly, Cenred has been struggling with his business for years now. If he isn't good enough to keep it afloat, he deserves to lose it. But, that means her sister loses it as well. Plus, this is her life now, and the money is good. She only needs to work for them for a few more months before she'll have enough saved up for her university tuition...

"It's never been about being fair, Morgana. You know that."

She should say no, but she's in too deep.

Nodding, she sighs. "Fine. Let me know the details when you have them."

Morgause smiles brightly at her. "I was hoping you'd say that. We'll organize a meeting within the week. Now, I'll let you get back to your morning." Morgana glances at the clock, she's right, it is morning. Five seventeen, to be precise. Her sister makes her way to the door, shrugging on her purple designer jacket. "I'll call you when we have it set up."

Morgana wearily nods in response, and just like that, Morgause is gone and her flat has returned to its usual silent state. Thank goodness.

There's a duvet thrown over the back of the chair. Pulling it down and over her body, she doesn't even bother to return to her bed as she settles down in hopes of catching one or two more hours of sleep before the day truly begins.

Arthur stares out the back window of the car excitedly. Morgana, who is passenging in the back seat next to him, has her arms folded across her chest and frowns at the floor of the car, deep in thought. Arthur may be looking forward to the next two months at camp, but she's not so sure. She's not scared of being away from home. It's just... different. She had wanted to spend more time with her father this summer. But of course, his long time friend and boss, Uther, had to convince him otherwise. That the kids should go to camp while they worked to expand the business. That it would be good for her and Arthur to have some time away, to meet new friends and learn 'new skills'.

She almost snorts. New skills? What, like starting a campfire? Big deal.

Her gaze shifts to the sandy haired boy beside her. He's not close to his father like she is to hers. Uther has always pushed him hard to stand on his own two feet. She even feels sorry for him, sometimes. Not that she'll ever tell him that.

The two of them had lost their mothers at an early age. Arthur's mother, Ygraine, died in childbirth, and Arthur had never had the chance to meet her. Morgana's mother, Vivienne, had passed of cancer when her daughter was only four years old. The loss had hit her father, Gorlois, hard. After that, it was rare for him to leave his daughter's side at any time other than when he had to work or when she had to go off to school. She had missed her mum terribly, too, but had been too young to entirely understand. She did understand that she loved her father's affection, and cared for him deeply. As a child, she had always been somewhat of a social outcast. Gorlois was always there for her, her father and friend.

Uther always thought that his friend 'coddled' his daughter, seemed proud of the fact that he practically pushed his own son away in his efforts to make him independent and strong. Whenever he voiced his opinions, though, Gorlois would just nod, then gaze at his daughter with a smile that he only reserved for her - that special smile that fathers have for their little girls. He had never taken Uther's words to heart. Well, not until now, apparently.

The sigh that unconsciously slips from her lips must have been loud, because Arthur finally peels his face away from the window to face her.

"Aw, c'mon, Morgana. It's gonna be fun! There's no need to be scared," he teases, interrupting her thoughts.

"I am NOT scared," she snaps. "Just annoyed that I have to spend every day of the summer with YOU and a bunch of kids that I don't know." The two have known each other since they were toddlers, Arthur being only a few months older than her.

"You're sca-ared," he continues taunting in a sing song voice. "You're so sca-ared!"

She raises her fist, about to punch him in the arm for that, when her father's voice catches both their attention.

"That's enough, you two. What did I say earlier about picking on each other?"

"Sorry, Uncle Gorlois," Arthur mutters, eyes downcast, as she simultaneously says, "Sorry, Daddy." She resumes her earlier position with her arms folded in front of her. Glaring at Arthur she adds a quick, "He started it," under her breath.

Gorlois evidently hears, because he tells them, "Don't make me separate you two." But she catches the humorous glint of his twinkling brown eyes in the rear-view mirror, and she can't help but grin at him.

Arthur is subdued for the rest of the journey, thank goodness, but that quickly changes when Gorlois pulls into the entrance of the camp. He pulls up in front of the main building, where they were told to meet in order to confirm registration and get to know their fellow campers. After all, they would be seeing each other every day for the rest of the summer.

"Yippee," she thinks sarcastically, and suppresses another sigh.

'We're here!" Arthur is practically out the door and pulling his luggage out of the car's trunk as soon as Gorlois has shifted it into park.

Morgana, on the other hand, gives her father pleading eyes, and he turns to her with a gentle smile on his face. "You're going to have so much fun, sweetie. Just give it a chance. Let's get your things, okay?" She nods, and tiredly steps out of the car.

The time flies by, suddenly they are registered, introduced, and he has to leave. Her irritating friend is off in a cluster of kids, chatting up a storm. She turns to her father, tears that will not be suppressed pooling into her eyes. "I don't want to stay here," she whispers.

Gorlois crouches in front of her, taking her hands and looking up into her eyes. "Morgana, I know this is new for you. But you'll have so much more fun here than you will sitting at home while I put in long hours at work this summer. If we weren't undergoing our expansion this year, I wouldn't be making you do this. You can call me as much as you want, sweetheart, whenever you need to talk. I'll be there."

He releases one of her hands to wipe away the tears that, for some reason, are continuing to gather on her lashes, even though she has furiously been trying to blink them away. Her father glances over her shoulder, sees that the camp counselors are beginning to gather up the children to take them to their bunks. His eyes return to Morgana's. "I have to go now. But I'll be back, I promise."

He rises and wraps her into a hug, and she returns the embrace as he strokes her hair. He finally releases her, and beams at her once more. "Now, go have some fun with the other kids! And try not to make Arthur cry." He winks at her in jest. "Bye, Gana. The summer will be over before you know it, and you'll be back at home."

She nods and puts on a brave smile for him. "Bye, Daddy." She turns and walks towards the group, without looking back over her shoulder. Gorlois watches until they are out of sight, then slowly returns to his car to make the drive back to London.

"I'm Sophia. I'll be taking care of your group this summer!" The petite, brown haired woman smiles cheerfully at the four children in front of her.

Morgana takes an instant dislike to her, maybe because of her already overbearing cheeriness. She narrows her eyes slightly at the camp leader, who has an attitude like she is going to befriend all of them by the end of the summer.

Right, not going to happen.

"Before we move on to any activities, we're going to get you settled into your cabins, alright?" She leads Morgana, Arthur, and the two others with them to a small ring of cabins, pointing out landmarks like the dining hall and the stables along the way. The cabins are in a central location, with a nice view of the lake in the distance.

Theirs are side by side, with a small picnic table set in between. Sophia hand them each keys, two for the boys' cabin and two for the girls', and they trek in with their bags. Once they've set them down and returned back to where she is waiting, she continues. "Dinner will be served at six o'clock tonight. Until then, unpack, get to know each other, and feel free to explore the main area of the camp! Enjoy yourselves!" She flashes them one more smile at them before taking her leave.

As their camp leader walks away, the four children turn to stare at each other. Morgana warily inspects them. Both seem about her and Arthur's age. The boy has rather large ears, a mop of unruly raven hair, and is tall and lanky. The girl has caramel coloured skin, curly dark hair, and a friendly face. She seems like she could be alright. The boy, on the other hand, seems petrified. Terrific, of all the people she could be stuck with, one is Arthur and the other looks like he'd be scared of his own shadow.

Arthur is the first to break the awkward silence. "Hi, I'm Arthur," he introduces himself, offering a hand out to the other young boy. "And this is my friend, Morgana."

The other boy reaches out to return Arthur's handshake. "Merlin," he says, looking wide eyed at the curly haired girl beside him, who is the next to speak.

"I'm Guinevere, but you can call me Gwen. Merlin and I are school mates. It's a pleasure to meet you both, I'm sure we're going to have a wonderful summer!" She grins at them.

Morgana inwardly sighs in relief. At least one of their group mates seems normal. This is good. Maybe this summer has some potential to be alright after all. She returns the smile.

"Are you planning on stopping by after work tonight?" Gwen asks, as she and Merlin pull on their regular shoes and jackets. It's late, and all the customers have left, including the rude boor in Merlin's section who had the audacity to leave without tipping him. They've finished up all their side chores, the restaurant can close and they are free to leave.

"Do you think it's a good idea? I mean, I know it's been a long day for him, and it's late, and he probably wants to spend time with you more than anything..."

"Merlin." Gwen stands in front of him with her hands on her hips. "You are his best friend. Of course he needs you there." She releases a sad sigh. "You know it's been extra hard on him since Morgana left - another piece of his family has been ripped away from him. It would mean a lot to him if you came over, even if he'll never admit it."

Merlin gives her a small smile. "I know. I just wanted to double check, make sure I wasn't intruding on anything." He waggles his eyebrows at her. "After all, last year you two weren't engaged yet, and who knows what you'll get into-"

"Merlin!" She smacks him on the arm. "You are such a brat." His grins widens as she gets flustered.

"It's part of my charm."

"Is it, now?"

"You know it." With a mock bow, he offers his arm to her. "Now, milady, shall I escort you home to your fiancé?"

She giggles and takes it. "Why thank you Merlin. You can be such a gentleman... Sometimes." Gwen snags a plastic bag off of the counter, which contains Arthur's 'unofficial' birthday cake.

Laughing, the two friends make their way out of the restaurant into the rain, back to Gwen and Arthur's house.