Conflict of Interest (20/?) - (Morgana/Nikki)
Title: Conflict of Interest (20/?)
Fandom: Silent Witness/Merlin (Modern AU)
Characters & Pairings: Morgana/Nikki (with side Arthur/Gwen, unrequited/past Nikki/Harry and maybe-not-so-past Gwen/Morgana)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~ 57,500 so far, 2,500 for this part
Summary: Morgana/Nikki. Morgana and Nikki’s morning is interrupted by a visit from Harry and the news that Uther’s will is ready to be read.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Merlin or Silent Witness, this is not for profit, just for entertainment!
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 |Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17|Chapter 18| Chapter 19
“Wow,” Nikki panted. Her body was sprung momentarily into the air by Morgana’s clumsy collapse beside her. “That was... wow.” She let her head fall wearily to the side to take in Morgana’s glowing, breathless form. In moments like that, Morgana’s eyes seemed almost unnaturally bright, like she was the most alive thing in the world.
“You weren’t too bad yourself,” Morgana said teasingly, kicking Nikki’s shin gently. Their skin clung for a second before coming apart again. “I so needed that.”
“Mmm,” Nikki agreed sleepily, her eyes drifting closed. She definitely did not want the sun to make an appearance any time soon.
Sleep tugged at her body. Tempting. Teasing. The dreamworld that had eluded her of late was opening its arms to her and beckoning her into its embrace. Her brain was clouded with exhaustion and the offer of sleep was just too good to refuse, no matter how captivating Morgana’s laboured breathing was.
Morgana turned onto her side and pulled Nikki close, kissing her cheek and watching as a small smile tugged on her kiss-swollen lips. Warm love expanded like a second set of lungs in her chest and her heart fluttered from more than just the exertion. She fell asleep feeling happier than she had ever felt before. It was, she hoped, the start of her happily ever after.
~*~
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Nikki stirred, not waking from a dream that was full of Morgana and sunlight. She was by a lake, lying on the sandy bank and watching as Morgana swam slowly towards her. Dream Morgana rose onto the shore, dripping streams of water from the tips of her hair and her strange ornate dress. And then Morgana was above her, water dripping from the tip of her nose now and her pink flushed lips, lips that were getting closer and closer and -
Knock. Knock. Knock.
A noise of discontent rumbled somewhere in her throat. Her dream was fading just as she was about to get her kiss. Opening her eyes a sliver, she squinted past Morgana’s shoulder to the clock. Eight thirty ante meridiem. She had only been asleep three hours. Three too short hours.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Leave it, they’ll go away,” Morgana murmured, her eyes still closed and her arms tightening around Nikki’s waist.
“It’s probably Harry,” Nikki sighed, though she made no move to leave the bed. She was pretty sure that she could sleep forever. With Morgana pressed up against her, the whole world seemed very far away.
A buzzing followed closely by the Top Gear theme fading in, getting louder and louder behind her briefly alarmed Nikki until she realised it was her mobile phone. It was definitely Harry. Struggling to escape from Morgana’s hold, Nikki grabbed the phone and jabbed at the little green phone icon.
“Mmm.” Eloquence required four hours sleep at the very least.
“My keys are on your coffee table,” Harry reminded her ruefully.
Nikki made a pitiful sound and hung up. In her sleepy haze, she slipped from the bed to half-hearted protests from Morgana and took a long gulp of the water beside her bed. It was in a special cup that Leo had gotten her for Christmas the year before he met Janet, that you put in the freezer during the day and kept your drink ice cold all night. Or at least that was what Nikki used it for. She got better presents now, that she was sure Janet picked out. Padding out of the bedroom, she managed to find and pull on the nightdress that had been shed in the hall the night before and the crumpled jumper that was strewn over the back of the sofa. By the time she reached the door she looked and felt at least half respectable, if not entirely awake.
“Good morning, Nicola,” Harry quipped, walking into the flat and heading for the living room.
She wandered slowly after him, not amused. “Harry’s here!” she shouted for her girlfriend’s benefit.
Harry spun and crinkled his nose at her. “Why do I sense that something happened after I went home last night?”
“Hey Harry,” Morgana greeted, joining them in the living room. She was much better at mornings than Nikki was. It was almost unnatural. The moment she decided to wake up, she did. Just like that.
“Morning,” Harry said cheerfully, trying not to notice how short Nikki’s already above-the-knee dressing gown was on Morgana. Or how she didn’t seem to be wearing anything underneath. A sharp pain on his arm shattered the scene that had been forming in his imagination. “Ouch, Nikki! That’s... workplace abuse!”
“We aren’t in the workplace and you were staring at my girlfriend,” Nikki said, slapping him again, lighter this time. Luckily, she was laughing.
“Was not,” Harry muttered, rubbing his arm. He took a large sidestep away from Nikki and grabbed his keys off the table. “Right, I shall leave you two to whatever it was that you were doing. Lunch before court?”
Before Nikki could say that they already had plans, Morgana said, “Luigi’s at 12:30? I have a table booked but I won’t be able to make it so the two of you should go.”
It was settled. Harry and Nikki would go for lunch and Morgana would meet them afterwards at court with Leo and Arthur.
“I thought it was just going to us for lunch,” Nikki pouted once Harry had left.
Morgana just laughed and kissed her. “Arthur and I have been called into work by the company lawyer. My step-father’s will has finally come through. It’s just a formality so Arthur can start shaking on deals and signing company checks. It won’t take long. I promise.”
~*~
On the way to Uther’s old office, Morgana looked in on her lab, checking on her colonies and batch cultures and talking to the students who were looking after them for the two weeks that the trial was scheduled for. At first, she hadn’t planned on taking the time off. She had already wasted too much time and was increasingly aware of a German lab snapping at her heels. But there were too many things that she didn’t understand yet and she couldn’t get rid on the itch under her skin that warned that it wasn’t yet over. Once she was satisfied that her project wasn’t heading for a disaster, she set off down the long unfriendly corridors that led to the administrative block.
“You’re late,” Arthur said, looking at his watch, when Morgana entered the office without knocking. She had never bothered with such courtesies when her step-father was in charge and she certainly wasn’t going to now that it was her little brother who sat in the reclining leather swivel chair.
Arthur was not, in fact, at that moment, sat in the swivel chair. He was sat in one of the two markedly closer to the ground chairs on the other side of the desk. Morgana took the other one, facing their company lawyer, Teddy Harrington. He was just about the most stereotypical middle-class English eccentric that Morgana had ever met and he had been fiercely loyal to Uther.
“Sorry, I wasn’t at home when I got the call, I had to get changed,” Morgana apologised, smiling first at her brother and then at Teddy. “Let’s get this over with shall we?”
“Quite. This is long overdue and of paramount importance to both of you,” Teddy agreed.
Morgana frowned a little at that.
“I won’t bore you with the legal language. It boils down to what has been left to each of you.”
Arthur sat forward in his seat, looking as nervous as Morgana suddenly felt.
“To you Arthur, your father has left his home here in London and the family retreat in Edinburgh. You have also been bequeathed three quarters of your father’s liquid assets, which come to the sum of twenty three and a half million pounds sterling.”
Arthur’s mouth fell open and Morgana sat back in her chair feeling the unexpected sting of rejection.
“There are also a number of personal effects including an antique rocking horse that I understand you were forbidden from playing with as a child, as well as the contents of both properties you have been left, with a few exceptions.”
“Twenty three and half million pounds?” Arthur asked. There was no way that could be right, was there?
“That’s right,” Teddy nodded. “Now, onto you Morgana.”
She didn’t think it was really worth it.
“Your step-father has left you a third property - as well as its contents - of which, it is my understanding, you do not know he is still in possession of. Number 47 Lansdowne Road, Dublin 4.”
Arthur looked at her. “Is that where we lived?”
Morgana nodded, smiling. Uther hadn’t forgotten her after all. “My favourite ever house.”
“There is also the remaining seven point eight million pounds sterling, a box of you your mother’s jewellery, two wardrobes and set of drawers - also your mother’s - and the contents of Uther’s personal library, which he hopes you will enjoy.”
Morgana was blushing now, though she didn’t quite know why. She had expected some money but that was it.
“And one last thing,” Teddy continued. “Morgana, your step-father has left you Pendragon Corporation in its entirety, including all subsidiaries and patents filed both under the company name and under Uther’s name personally.”
For the first time in her life, Morgana was genuinely speechless.
“Thank God for that,” sighed Arthur.
Morgana stared at Teddy in complete shock. “He - He what?”
“Has left you Pendragon Corporation in its entirety, including all subsidiaries and patents,” Teddy repeated. “I take it that you didn’t know that he intended to leave you the company. It turns out that he had been talking to the board members about it for quite a while.”
“I - No, no I had no idea,” Morgana said, a wave of guilt following the burst of elation. She turned to her brother. “Arthur, I...”
“I’m off the hook!” Arthur grinned.
Her guilt evaporated and she laughed.
“Would you like to know how much the company is worth, Morgana?” Teddy asked.
She bit her lip. “No. Did he say why though, why he left it to me?”
Teddy rummaged in his briefcase and retrieved two envelopes, one of which he handed to Morgana and the other to Arthur. “He has written letters, explaining his choices.”
Arthur opened and devoured his there and then but Morgana stole away to her small office, her hands holding the letter trembling as she rushed through the blur of corridors. Once she was sat safely at her desk, the door closed and blinds closed, she switched on her desk lamp and took a deep breath before breaking the letter’s seal and removing the paper inside.
My dearest Morgana,
I am discovering that it is even harder to write to you than it was to your brother. There is so much that we never said, I wished I had told you that I loved you more often and how proud I am of you. It is a poor excuse on my part but as you got older and grew more and more into your Mother’s looks with none of her personality, I found it harder and harder to show you the affection that you deserved, the affection I felt. I regret every day that I let us drift apart, but know that it did not mean that I didn’t love you. You are more precious to me than you will ever know. You are my daughter in all but blood.
You are probably wondering why I never told you about Lansdowne Road. The truth is that I couldn’t go back there, not after your Mother died, and I knew that you would if you knew I still owned it. It was selfish but I hope that you will, in time, forgive me. There are some things in the attic there from your childhood, as well as some things of your mother’s and father’s. I hope they will bring back memories of the time we spent there when Arthur and yourself were both so young.
Pendragon Corporation, as you will know by now, is to be yours. I have been training you, though you did not know it, to take over from your first day working for me and you have far surpassed my expectations, both in your passion and vision for the future and brilliant mind. I have faith that you will bring it to new heights, making it a company to be proud of, as I am afraid I have been unable to do.
I needn’t ask that you take care of your brother, for I already know that you will. You have been more to him than your Mother or I could have asked. I am more proud than you can ever imagine of the sacrifices you have made for his happiness, I truly do not know how you found the strength. In the jewellery box of your mother’s that I have left to you, you will find two wedding rings. One is the ring she wore when she married your father and the other the one that she wore when she married me. I hope they bring you the happy ever after that you deserve. I wish I could have seen it.
There is also a locket that I gave your mother when we met all those years ago when you were barely more than a baby. You probably don’t remember, but you were so enamoured with that locket. Whenever your mother took it off, even for a moment, you would take it in your tiny hands and giggle, running around the house chased by your mother until she caught you and tickled you until you gave it back. It will look as beautiful on you as it always did on her.
Lastly, I want to tell you one last time that I love you with all of my heart, my beautiful daughter.
All my love,
Uther
Tears fell on the neatly written letter and Morgana held it close to her chest before her tears could ruin it. She closed her eyes and wept.
“Morgana.”
Out of nowhere, Arthur’s arms were around her, pulling her out of her chair and into his embrace. “I know,” he whispered, kissing her head as she broke down, weeping into her chest. “I know.”
His own letter was folded in his pocket, the last line crystal clear behind his closed eyes:
Take care of your big sister.
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Fandom: Silent Witness/Merlin (Modern AU)
Characters & Pairings: Morgana/Nikki (with side Arthur/Gwen, unrequited/past Nikki/Harry and maybe-not-so-past Gwen/Morgana)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~ 57,500 so far, 2,500 for this part
Summary: Morgana/Nikki. Morgana and Nikki’s morning is interrupted by a visit from Harry and the news that Uther’s will is ready to be read.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Merlin or Silent Witness, this is not for profit, just for entertainment!
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 |Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17|Chapter 18| Chapter 19
“Wow,” Nikki panted. Her body was sprung momentarily into the air by Morgana’s clumsy collapse beside her. “That was... wow.” She let her head fall wearily to the side to take in Morgana’s glowing, breathless form. In moments like that, Morgana’s eyes seemed almost unnaturally bright, like she was the most alive thing in the world.
“You weren’t too bad yourself,” Morgana said teasingly, kicking Nikki’s shin gently. Their skin clung for a second before coming apart again. “I so needed that.”
“Mmm,” Nikki agreed sleepily, her eyes drifting closed. She definitely did not want the sun to make an appearance any time soon.
Sleep tugged at her body. Tempting. Teasing. The dreamworld that had eluded her of late was opening its arms to her and beckoning her into its embrace. Her brain was clouded with exhaustion and the offer of sleep was just too good to refuse, no matter how captivating Morgana’s laboured breathing was.
Morgana turned onto her side and pulled Nikki close, kissing her cheek and watching as a small smile tugged on her kiss-swollen lips. Warm love expanded like a second set of lungs in her chest and her heart fluttered from more than just the exertion. She fell asleep feeling happier than she had ever felt before. It was, she hoped, the start of her happily ever after.
~*~
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Nikki stirred, not waking from a dream that was full of Morgana and sunlight. She was by a lake, lying on the sandy bank and watching as Morgana swam slowly towards her. Dream Morgana rose onto the shore, dripping streams of water from the tips of her hair and her strange ornate dress. And then Morgana was above her, water dripping from the tip of her nose now and her pink flushed lips, lips that were getting closer and closer and -
Knock. Knock. Knock.
A noise of discontent rumbled somewhere in her throat. Her dream was fading just as she was about to get her kiss. Opening her eyes a sliver, she squinted past Morgana’s shoulder to the clock. Eight thirty ante meridiem. She had only been asleep three hours. Three too short hours.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Leave it, they’ll go away,” Morgana murmured, her eyes still closed and her arms tightening around Nikki’s waist.
“It’s probably Harry,” Nikki sighed, though she made no move to leave the bed. She was pretty sure that she could sleep forever. With Morgana pressed up against her, the whole world seemed very far away.
A buzzing followed closely by the Top Gear theme fading in, getting louder and louder behind her briefly alarmed Nikki until she realised it was her mobile phone. It was definitely Harry. Struggling to escape from Morgana’s hold, Nikki grabbed the phone and jabbed at the little green phone icon.
“Mmm.” Eloquence required four hours sleep at the very least.
“My keys are on your coffee table,” Harry reminded her ruefully.
Nikki made a pitiful sound and hung up. In her sleepy haze, she slipped from the bed to half-hearted protests from Morgana and took a long gulp of the water beside her bed. It was in a special cup that Leo had gotten her for Christmas the year before he met Janet, that you put in the freezer during the day and kept your drink ice cold all night. Or at least that was what Nikki used it for. She got better presents now, that she was sure Janet picked out. Padding out of the bedroom, she managed to find and pull on the nightdress that had been shed in the hall the night before and the crumpled jumper that was strewn over the back of the sofa. By the time she reached the door she looked and felt at least half respectable, if not entirely awake.
“Good morning, Nicola,” Harry quipped, walking into the flat and heading for the living room.
She wandered slowly after him, not amused. “Harry’s here!” she shouted for her girlfriend’s benefit.
Harry spun and crinkled his nose at her. “Why do I sense that something happened after I went home last night?”
“Hey Harry,” Morgana greeted, joining them in the living room. She was much better at mornings than Nikki was. It was almost unnatural. The moment she decided to wake up, she did. Just like that.
“Morning,” Harry said cheerfully, trying not to notice how short Nikki’s already above-the-knee dressing gown was on Morgana. Or how she didn’t seem to be wearing anything underneath. A sharp pain on his arm shattered the scene that had been forming in his imagination. “Ouch, Nikki! That’s... workplace abuse!”
“We aren’t in the workplace and you were staring at my girlfriend,” Nikki said, slapping him again, lighter this time. Luckily, she was laughing.
“Was not,” Harry muttered, rubbing his arm. He took a large sidestep away from Nikki and grabbed his keys off the table. “Right, I shall leave you two to whatever it was that you were doing. Lunch before court?”
Before Nikki could say that they already had plans, Morgana said, “Luigi’s at 12:30? I have a table booked but I won’t be able to make it so the two of you should go.”
It was settled. Harry and Nikki would go for lunch and Morgana would meet them afterwards at court with Leo and Arthur.
“I thought it was just going to us for lunch,” Nikki pouted once Harry had left.
Morgana just laughed and kissed her. “Arthur and I have been called into work by the company lawyer. My step-father’s will has finally come through. It’s just a formality so Arthur can start shaking on deals and signing company checks. It won’t take long. I promise.”
~*~
On the way to Uther’s old office, Morgana looked in on her lab, checking on her colonies and batch cultures and talking to the students who were looking after them for the two weeks that the trial was scheduled for. At first, she hadn’t planned on taking the time off. She had already wasted too much time and was increasingly aware of a German lab snapping at her heels. But there were too many things that she didn’t understand yet and she couldn’t get rid on the itch under her skin that warned that it wasn’t yet over. Once she was satisfied that her project wasn’t heading for a disaster, she set off down the long unfriendly corridors that led to the administrative block.
“You’re late,” Arthur said, looking at his watch, when Morgana entered the office without knocking. She had never bothered with such courtesies when her step-father was in charge and she certainly wasn’t going to now that it was her little brother who sat in the reclining leather swivel chair.
Arthur was not, in fact, at that moment, sat in the swivel chair. He was sat in one of the two markedly closer to the ground chairs on the other side of the desk. Morgana took the other one, facing their company lawyer, Teddy Harrington. He was just about the most stereotypical middle-class English eccentric that Morgana had ever met and he had been fiercely loyal to Uther.
“Sorry, I wasn’t at home when I got the call, I had to get changed,” Morgana apologised, smiling first at her brother and then at Teddy. “Let’s get this over with shall we?”
“Quite. This is long overdue and of paramount importance to both of you,” Teddy agreed.
Morgana frowned a little at that.
“I won’t bore you with the legal language. It boils down to what has been left to each of you.”
Arthur sat forward in his seat, looking as nervous as Morgana suddenly felt.
“To you Arthur, your father has left his home here in London and the family retreat in Edinburgh. You have also been bequeathed three quarters of your father’s liquid assets, which come to the sum of twenty three and a half million pounds sterling.”
Arthur’s mouth fell open and Morgana sat back in her chair feeling the unexpected sting of rejection.
“There are also a number of personal effects including an antique rocking horse that I understand you were forbidden from playing with as a child, as well as the contents of both properties you have been left, with a few exceptions.”
“Twenty three and half million pounds?” Arthur asked. There was no way that could be right, was there?
“That’s right,” Teddy nodded. “Now, onto you Morgana.”
She didn’t think it was really worth it.
“Your step-father has left you a third property - as well as its contents - of which, it is my understanding, you do not know he is still in possession of. Number 47 Lansdowne Road, Dublin 4.”
Arthur looked at her. “Is that where we lived?”
Morgana nodded, smiling. Uther hadn’t forgotten her after all. “My favourite ever house.”
“There is also the remaining seven point eight million pounds sterling, a box of you your mother’s jewellery, two wardrobes and set of drawers - also your mother’s - and the contents of Uther’s personal library, which he hopes you will enjoy.”
Morgana was blushing now, though she didn’t quite know why. She had expected some money but that was it.
“And one last thing,” Teddy continued. “Morgana, your step-father has left you Pendragon Corporation in its entirety, including all subsidiaries and patents filed both under the company name and under Uther’s name personally.”
For the first time in her life, Morgana was genuinely speechless.
“Thank God for that,” sighed Arthur.
Morgana stared at Teddy in complete shock. “He - He what?”
“Has left you Pendragon Corporation in its entirety, including all subsidiaries and patents,” Teddy repeated. “I take it that you didn’t know that he intended to leave you the company. It turns out that he had been talking to the board members about it for quite a while.”
“I - No, no I had no idea,” Morgana said, a wave of guilt following the burst of elation. She turned to her brother. “Arthur, I...”
“I’m off the hook!” Arthur grinned.
Her guilt evaporated and she laughed.
“Would you like to know how much the company is worth, Morgana?” Teddy asked.
She bit her lip. “No. Did he say why though, why he left it to me?”
Teddy rummaged in his briefcase and retrieved two envelopes, one of which he handed to Morgana and the other to Arthur. “He has written letters, explaining his choices.”
Arthur opened and devoured his there and then but Morgana stole away to her small office, her hands holding the letter trembling as she rushed through the blur of corridors. Once she was sat safely at her desk, the door closed and blinds closed, she switched on her desk lamp and took a deep breath before breaking the letter’s seal and removing the paper inside.
My dearest Morgana,
I am discovering that it is even harder to write to you than it was to your brother. There is so much that we never said, I wished I had told you that I loved you more often and how proud I am of you. It is a poor excuse on my part but as you got older and grew more and more into your Mother’s looks with none of her personality, I found it harder and harder to show you the affection that you deserved, the affection I felt. I regret every day that I let us drift apart, but know that it did not mean that I didn’t love you. You are more precious to me than you will ever know. You are my daughter in all but blood.
You are probably wondering why I never told you about Lansdowne Road. The truth is that I couldn’t go back there, not after your Mother died, and I knew that you would if you knew I still owned it. It was selfish but I hope that you will, in time, forgive me. There are some things in the attic there from your childhood, as well as some things of your mother’s and father’s. I hope they will bring back memories of the time we spent there when Arthur and yourself were both so young.
Pendragon Corporation, as you will know by now, is to be yours. I have been training you, though you did not know it, to take over from your first day working for me and you have far surpassed my expectations, both in your passion and vision for the future and brilliant mind. I have faith that you will bring it to new heights, making it a company to be proud of, as I am afraid I have been unable to do.
I needn’t ask that you take care of your brother, for I already know that you will. You have been more to him than your Mother or I could have asked. I am more proud than you can ever imagine of the sacrifices you have made for his happiness, I truly do not know how you found the strength. In the jewellery box of your mother’s that I have left to you, you will find two wedding rings. One is the ring she wore when she married your father and the other the one that she wore when she married me. I hope they bring you the happy ever after that you deserve. I wish I could have seen it.
There is also a locket that I gave your mother when we met all those years ago when you were barely more than a baby. You probably don’t remember, but you were so enamoured with that locket. Whenever your mother took it off, even for a moment, you would take it in your tiny hands and giggle, running around the house chased by your mother until she caught you and tickled you until you gave it back. It will look as beautiful on you as it always did on her.
Lastly, I want to tell you one last time that I love you with all of my heart, my beautiful daughter.
All my love,
Uther
Tears fell on the neatly written letter and Morgana held it close to her chest before her tears could ruin it. She closed her eyes and wept.
“Morgana.”
Out of nowhere, Arthur’s arms were around her, pulling her out of her chair and into his embrace. “I know,” he whispered, kissing her head as she broke down, weeping into her chest. “I know.”
His own letter was folded in his pocket, the last line crystal clear behind his closed eyes:
Take care of your big sister.
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