A/N: Hi everyone, this is another persistent plot bunny that wouldn't leave me alone. It seems like my brain is determined to write at least one of every possible kind of Merlin fanfic. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning The Epic Adventures of Emrys :)

Merlin subtly glanced around the room, noting the one door, two windows and three stone-faced thugs lining the walls of the office. This was a sticky situation, to be sure, but he'd survived worse. His sharp (currently) brown eyes refocused on the irate crime lord in front of him.

Calvin Collins (a rather boring name for a crime lord, Merlin thought), 175cm, 81kg, brown and grey hair, hazel eyes, scar on the left side of his neck, small dagger tattoo on the inside of his left wrist. Millionaire. Local head of the international crime syndicate responsible for 70% of all cocaine trafficking worldwide. Merlin adopted a vaguely stupid and sharply terrified expression.

"I – I'm so sorry, M-Mr. Collins," he stuttered, staring at the floor but taking note of Collins' every twitch in his peripheral vision. "I d-didn't know he was a cop, how could I have?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Merlin saw the bound body of the idiot detective constable who had gotten him into this situation. The man was kneeling on the floor, hands bound, with a gun to his head. He was trying to look stoic and defiant but just looked terrified.

"You idiot!" Said Collins. "How could you let him in here? Now that he knows where our operation is based, we'll have to kill him. Do you have any idea how much trouble it is to kill a cop?"

Merlin winced. "I'm sorry Mr. Collins, I didn't know! I promise it won't happen again, I'll take care of this, I promise! I know the perfect place to get rid of the body, no one will suspect a thing!" The man on the floor flinched.

Merlin waited, barely breathing, hoping Collins would take the bait and let him deal with the detective himself.

"No," said Collins, "I can't trust a moron like you to do this properly." He nodded his head towards the man with the gun. "Shoot him."

Merlin lunged to the side and tackled the executioner to the floor. He wrestled the gun from his hands and shot him once in the chest. He quickly jumped to his feet and had Collins in front of him with a gun at his temple before the crime lord had time to do more than yell in surprise.

"Now," he said calmly, "Tell your goons to put their guns down, nice and slow. If you do exactly as I say, I might just let you live to stand trial."

Collins grudgingly gave the order, and his bodyguards disarmed themselves.

"What the fuck? Are you some kind of cop?" Said Collins.

"Not exactly. Get up," Merlin growled at the detective, who stumbled to his feet. "Come here." Merlin retrieved a knife from his pocket and cut through the detective's bonds with his right hand, while holding the gun steady with his left.

"Collect their guns," he ordered the detective, and the man obeyed without question.

As the detective bent to retrieve the last weapon, one of Collins' goons jumped forward and tried to take him hostage.

Merlin didn't hesitate. He swung his gun away from Collins' temple, fired a single shot into the goon's head and pressed the barrel back against Collins' temple, in less than a second. The crime lord flinched, both from the heat of the metal and the gunshot right next to his ear.

"Nobody move!" Shouted Merlin. The detective was frozen in shock, staring at the goon's body.

"Detective," snapped Merlin. "Now would be a good time to call for some backup."

Three hours later, SIS Agent Merlin Emrys, (a.k.a. 'Warlock'), was slumped in a chair in his boss' office, clutching his coffee like it was a lifeline and rubbing his (now blue) eyes. He had been awake for over 26 hours, and he was starting to feel the effects of severe sleep deprivation.

Collins and the two surviving goons were in custody, the unfortunate detective had signed an agreement that he would never speak of Merlin's role in the arrest, and now Merlin was left to explain to his boss how it had all gone wrong.

Merlin had been undercover for 8 months, working his way up through the ranks of Collins' organization. His ultimate goal had been to uncover the identity of Collins' boss and take him out.

Merlin growled. He had been so close! Collins' boss, known only as 'Bane' (Merlin had snickered when he first heard the alias and wondered if the man was a Batman fan), had been scheduled to make a visit to London in just a week. Now that Collins had been arrested, Bane would probably change his plans, and even if he did come to London they wouldn't know who he was or where to find him. Merlin snarled in frustration. That stupid detective had found Collins' headquarters completely by accident, bumbled in without backup and forced Merlin to take action to save his idiotic ass.

"You shouldn't have blown your cover, Emrys," berated Merlin's boss.

Kilgarrah, known as 'the Great Dragon' to his subordinates (or 'that bloody cryptic cold-blooded lizard' to Merlin), was a large Scotsman who looked to be a fit 60, but Merlin suspected that he was much older.

"I couldn't just let him kill a detective!" Argued Merlin.

"Your actions have grave consequences." Kilgarrah solemnly stared Merlin down with his eerie pale brown eyes. "There is more at stake here than the life of one detective. You must not allow yourself to be ruled by your heart, young Warlock. Do not follow in the footsteps of your father."

Merlin stared down at the cluttered desk, ashamed.

Kilgarrah sighed. "At least one good thing has come out of this debacle. Collins has revealed the identity of the Syndicate's next target."

Merlin sat up straighter in his chair and leaned forward. "Who is it?"

"Arthur Pendragon, CEO of Round Table Pharmaceuticals. Apparently his company is developing a means to cure cocaine addiction, which could severely reduce the Syndicate's customer base. I want you to protect him until we can eliminate Bane."

"What?" Exclaimed Merlin. "I'm not a bodyguard, Kilgarrah!"

"At the moment you shouldn't even be an agent, I should suspend you for blowing the Bane investigation, but we need you too much. Arthur Pendragon is a powerful businessman and philanthropist, as well as heir to Camelot Industries. We cannot afford to let him die."

"But we can afford to let innocent detectives die?"

"I don't have time to deal with your naïve idealism Emrys! Bringing down the Syndicate is too important. Take the assignment or hand in your resignation."

"Fine." Merlin sighed. "I'll do it. Is Pendragon aware of the threat?"

"No," said Kilgarrah, "and we don't intend to inform him. He must appear vulnerable. You will find a way to get close to him, and when the assassin makes his move you will capture him. With Collins in custody, anyone they send will probably have dealt directly with Bane. We can turn this situation to our advantage."

Kilgarrah handed Merlin a folder. "This is everything we have on Arthur Pendragon and Round Table Pharmaceuticals. Look it over, get some sleep and report back tomorrow."

A/N: This is my first attempt at a modern AU, let me know if I should continue it! It could be either Gen or Slash, depending on what people want to read.