Attempt 1

It was all that stupid Mary lady's fault really. Well, alright, if he was going to be completely honest, Arthur supposed the initial blame could be pushed to his father, but you know, father-son loyalty and all that. So what if Uther had given Mary's son, Thomas, the proverbial axe and fired him for something the boy really had no control over? That was life; and if that mama's boy needed a woman –let alone his own mother- to fight his battles for him, then this entire mess was just as much his fault as his mother's. Because attempted murder? Seriously? It was just a job for crying out loud! Did the woman really need to come at him with a butcher's knife? It was entirely too melodramatic in Arthur's opinion.

Unfortunately, Arthur had just fired his last bodyguard –for the rather justified reason that the man was a complete bore- and so had absolutely no means of protecting himself at the rather dull banquet he, his step-sister, and father were attending that night at the opera house. Obviously, Security had not done proper recon on all the hired help, as the mother of a disgruntled employee should have been suspicious enough to have the woman at least searched before being allowed to serve tables with the man that had fired said son hovering around. It was ridiculous really, how easily he could have been killed. One second he'd been nodding politely to the somewhat older woman whose tray he'd grabbed a flute of champagne off of, and the next, she had dropped the tray and had pulled a huge, fucking knife out of her tiny apron and was charging at him screaming in fury. At the back of his mind, Arthur had vaguely wondered how she'd managed to hide such a big, sharp, lumpy weapon in such a small apron, but this thought was quickly pushed aside by 'Good God, I'm going to die.'

By this point, the crashing of the rather expensive champagne glasses and the waitress' maniacal screech had gathered the attention of everyone in the room so it was impossible for anyone to miss as a deceptively skinny man tugged on Arthur's arm with surprising strength just in time to pull him out of the knife's path and on top of his… um… -oh alright, he'd admit it- saviour. Arthur stared at the man beneath him in shock, but the skinny lad –for he couldn't be more than a boy really- was still staring in concentration as he kicked one of his feet free and swept it under the crazy lady's foot, causing her to trip, and… knock herself unconscious. Wow. They just didn't make assassins like they used to, did they?

Arthur's thoughts trailed off into nothing as the man who had saved him turned those intense blue eyes on him. His breath caught as he was suddenly struck with the feeling of drowning –though in this case it was not as unpleasant as he would have thought- in their depths, sinking past impossibly gold flecks that seemed to represent all the mysteries this man seemed to be surrounded in. Said man blinked, bringing Arthur back to the present as he shut his own eyes and shook his head to clear it before standing up. The blue-eyed brunet had also stood up before Arthur could offer any help, brushing himself off and heaving a hard-done-by sigh as if Arthur being attacked had been some elaborate plan against him personally, while staring reproachfully at the unconscious woman. Uther, who had been standing not too far away, hurried over and grabbed Arthur by his shoulders.

"Arthur, are you alright?" he demanded, breaking the silence that had fallen over the entire room. The crowd surrounding them broke into a cacophony of sound and movement all at once as everyone tried to catch up with what had just happened in front of them. Two of the four of Uther's personal bodyguards –whom he went nowhere without- carried the unconscious woman away. The blue-eyed man that had just saved Arthur made as if to follow them, but one of the hands Uther had on Arthur's shoulders snapped out and stopped him in his tracks. Uther's gaze did not waver from his son's and Arthur realized his father was still waiting for an answer to his question.

"I'm alright, father, just a little… stunned I suppose." Uther looked him over once before nodding and turning his attention back to his other hand which was currently hovering inches away from the chest of the man that had saved his son's life. He let go of Arthur's shoulder and turned to properly regard the other man, who bowed respectfully.

"You just saved the crown prince's life. I believe a reward of some kind is in order, as well as your name." the king demanded. The young man straightened and smiled sheepishly.

"My name is Merlin Emrys, your Majesty. And I was only doing my job. I'm just glad the Prince is alright." He added after a slight pause, nodding towards the blonde who was now slightly behind and to the side of his father.

"Your job? You are Arthur's new bodyguard?" The disbelief laced in the King's voice mirrored Arthur's own.

"No, sire, I'm Gaius' nephew." Arthur's eyes flicked over the crowd, looking for the royal family's physician, but could not find him. "He knew the Prince had not hired a replacement bodyguard yet, and since he also knew I was looking for work, he asked me to keep an eye on him tonight, just in case."

"And lucky for us that you did. You said you were looking for work, did you? Well there's no longer any need for that. You shall become Prince Arthur's personal bodyguard. Once you've been cleared by Security of course. I'll have someone contact Gaius to let you know when you can start." Uther made as if to walk away, but stopped and turned back to Merlin, adding "Thank you."

The man now known as Merlin seemed struck speechless as Arthur's father walked away. By the time he snapped out of his daze, his shocked face morphed into annoyed petulance and he shot an unwarranted glare at Arthur before walking off and pulling out his mobile. Arthur, having had no one but heartbroken ex-girlfriends glare at him like that before, let his curiosity get the better of him as he followed Merlin towards one of the balconies.

It was a relatively cool night, so Merlin had the space to himself, allowing for his phone call to be overheard by none but Arthur, who was leaning against the open door and pretending to watch the proceedings going on inside. This way he was just able to hear the one-sided conversation taking place behind him.

"Gaius! It's me… No, the Prince is fine… Well, yes I might have saved him from some crazy lady, but…. No I doubt she's a pro, too sloppy…. Yes I'm fine…. You don't understand! The king made me Prince Arthur's personal bodyguard! ...Of course it's not a bloody good thing! The man's a prat!" Arthur's frown at this statement was alarming enough to scare off a pair of most-likely underage girls that had been hesitantly approaching him, but he hardly noticed.

"Yes, I realize I need the job…. Yeah, I'll wait." There was silence behind him, and Arthur determined that Merlin must have been put on hold, especially if the annoyed sighs and pacing footsteps were anything to go by.

"Yeah, Gaius, I'm still here…. What do you mean Uther just called you? …Well of course he can't find me; I'm on the bloody balcony! …How can he want me to work right now? I haven't even been properly screened yet…. Your word is good enough for him? No wonder that woman got through so easily…. No, I'll take it. Like you said, I need the money…. Yeah, I'll go find the Prat now…. Bye Gaius." The sound of a phone snapping shut propelled Arthur into action -and the centre of the room- before Merlin could return to the party. The blonde kept him in sight from the corner of his eye and so could not miss the accusatory glance that was sent his way that Arthur just knew meant Merlin had known he was listening the whole time. He frowned in recognition. That glare had been somewhat familiar.

Merlin started making his way towards Arthur before he was waylaid by the King, who took him aside and, after a brief conversation, left to join the Prime Minister and the group surrounding him, back straighter as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Merlin's face, by now, had been schooled to a polite half-smile as he continued on his way towards Arthur. Arthur was just about to say something incredibly witty and nice –not to prove that he wasn't a prat or anything to this stranger of course- when Merlin passed right by him and made a bee-line for the buffet table where light hors d'oeuvres had been elaborately laid out for the guests to nibble on.

Now the glare might have been somewhat familiar, but it was that casual, indifferent brush off that made everything click into place. Suddenly livid, Arthur stalked towards the man that had just saved his life, and spun him around to face him.

"Y-you... You!" Merlin raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?" he replied calmly.

Arthur, in his upset state had to work not to sputter. "You're that idiot that picked a fight with me last week!"

Merlin looked vaguely offended. "I didn't start anything. You're the one who rudely bumped into my friend and refused to apologize."

"You tried to punch me!" Arthur stated incredulously.

"I started to punch you. I stopped half-blow when I realized who you were, and you took the opportunity to flip me. So technically, it wasn't even a fight." The condescending explanation, as if to a five year old, was enough to turn Arthur's face red, but by the time he had gathered anything witty to say, Merlin had stuffed his face with a cheese ball and walked away. His spot was quickly replaced by his step-sister Morgana, who watched Merlin disappear through the crowds with a teasing smirk on her lips.

"I rather like him." She admitted. "It's about time someone besides me was able to make you speechless."

Arthur glared and stalked away, her amused –evil- laughter following in his wake.

Author's Note: So, my first modern AU ever. What did you think? A couple warnings for the future: 1) this will probably not be updated regularly. I'm horrible at updating, so it might be a while between chapters. Sorry. 2) I love Anthony Head, but Uther's a real dick in the series, so I've decided to make him a little nicer therefore OOCness on his part. 3) This is unbetaed (unbeta'd?) so all mistakes are my own. Sorry bout that too. Anyways, love feedback, so any will be greatly appreciated. And… I think that's it. Thanks! 8D