Fic: Cover Up The Damage [3/?]
Title: Cover Up The Damage
Author: elphie_uk
Fandom: Merlin
Rating: M
Characters/Pairings: Morgana/Arthur, Merlin and Morgause
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Summary: The public believe that Morgana le Fay has it all; she’s stunningly beautiful, envied by most women and fancied by most men, she’s going out with ‘Britain’s sexiest man’ and she’s a world-renowned classical pianist. But something has just blown her world apart.
Warnings: Pre-fic Incest (nothing graphic). Expletives. Modern AU.
A/N: Beta'd by thelovelylaura .
Thank you to themirrorofsin for reviewing (my comp seriously isn't liking tagging atm!)! Apologies for this taking so long, my internet is really playing up at the moment =/ By the way, this chapter mentions Morgana playing the piano. If you want to visualise that, then THIS might help!
Master Post
3. Purity of Feeling
The wind howled through the trees and the clouds disappeared from the night's sky. Arthur stared up at the stars, imagining that he was up there with them, a billion miles away from this shit. He didn't know how he'd ended up in a child's play park, his memories of the hours leading up to this moment began and ended with alcohol. A half remembered phone conversation drifted into his head as he watched the roundabout spin by itself in the wind.
"Morgana." He whispered; a painful name. Was she hurt? What had Merlin said? He couldn't remember…
Slowly he sat up, leaning against the pirate ship. As he looked around he realised that he was in the park by the quay. He almost laughed; this was where Morgana was happiest when she was a child. She had always insisted that she was too old for play parks, but he knew that it was just part of her act.
He looked around for paparazzi and was pleased to see that he was alone. They'd swarmed around him the night before.
He noticed a ribbon tied to the bough of a tree and the memories of the alcohol fuelled night before came flooding back to him; Whenever they came to the park when they were younger, Morgana took an emerald ribbon from her hair and tied it to the branch, and Arthur responded by tying a red one next to it. It was a funny little tradition; Morgana had always detested the ribbons that her father had made her wear, but once he had died she couldn't bear to throw them away. Arthur still had his stash of red ribbons bought especially for these occasions underneath his bed. He didn't remember where the original red ribbon had come from, but he knew that the ribbon tree would always be his and Morgana's special thing, an unspoken symbol of love. Not sexual or brotherly love, but just the purity of feeling.
He had come to the park in the hope that Morgana would be there with her ribbon, but s. He could imagine her sitting on the swing, moving back and forth, half hoping that he'd turn up, her mind filled with guilt, disgust and love.
He loved her so much and it was so, so wrong. He knew that he would never be able to stop feeling this way about her. He wished he could stop, he wished he could get the images of her naked form out of his head, because she was so beautiful, but she was his sister.
*****
Morgana sat in the chair by Merlin's window, watching the busy world fly by, unknowing of the grief being felt by the Pendragons.
The Pendragons. One of the worst parts of this was that she was no longer a Le Fay and she never truly had been. Her father wasn't her father.
"Do you think he knew?" Morgana asked, still looking out of the window.
Merlin looked around from his computer, "Sorry?"
"My father, do you think he knew that I wasn't his?" she refused to let her voice tremble as she said this.
"You are his Morgana; you always have and you always will be. You can't let go of him."
Morgana looked down and fiddled with the ring that she wore on her right thumb. Her father's ring. She stood up suddenly, and walked over to the door before spinning back around, almost falling to the floor in a fit of anger, "I hate it Merlin! I hate him, I hate Uther."
Merlin went over to her, "I know Morgana."
"Please don't touch me Merlin." she said calmly, tiredly. She sank down to the floor, "People are going to know." she said after a pause, "We're one of Britain's most famous yet private couples, he's the top celebrity entrepreneur." she brought her hand to her forehead, trying to rub away an oncoming headache, "The tabloids love a good incest story when it comes to the rich and famous Merlin's phone rang, "Hello? Arthur?"
Morgana's eyes widened, "Is he okay?"
"You should get back to bed," he told her before leaving the room.
"Was that Morgana? Is she okay?" Arthur asked intently.
Merlin sat down in the corridor outside his room, "She's getting there, physically, that is. Arthur, I don't know if you remember me calling you yesterday, but we think Morgana attempted to commit suicide. We think she tried to drown herself."
"I remember." Arthur said solemnly, holding back the burning tears.
*****
Merlin approached the park and saw Arthur staring into the distance. Due to it being 9 o'clock on an overcast Tuesday morning the park was empty apart from a few pigeons.
"Arthur you look terrible."
"How is she?" he asked miserably, not looking up at his friend.
Merlin didn't reply to his question, "Morgause wants her to stay at her apartment."
"A month ago Morgana didn't have any family at all…" he drifted off, thinking about the discovery that Uther's major business rival and Morgana shared a mother; it all seemed tiny in comparison to the more recent revelations.
"Arthur-"
"Don't Merlin."
*****
Morgana lay in her sisters arms, half wishing that it was her other sibling embracing her before feeling the urge to throw up again.
"Please come and stay with me Gana," Morgause stroked her thick raven hair.
Morgana shrugged, "At this moment in time, I really don't care where I go or who I stay with." There was a pause, "Do you know where Arthur's staying?"
"I don't, sorry." She changed the subject, "Have you ever gone for this long without playing the piano before?"
Her first memory of Morgana consisted of an angsty teenager playing the most ferocious rendition of Chopin Etude Option 25 Number 10 she had ever heard (She had recognised it instantly due to the hours she had spent trying to perfect it when she was a teenager. She was a talented pianist herself, but Morgana was something else.)
"I don't really feel like playing anymore." Morgana sat up, moving away from her sister.
"You're supposed to be flying out to America in two days Morgana." Morgause reached out to her.
She moved further away, "I'll cancel the recital, okay?!"
"But it's Carnegie Hall Mor-"
"I know what it is!" she suddenly exploded, "But do you honestly think I care?" she stormed out of the room, slamming the door.
"Yes!" Morgause shouted after her, running into the corridor, "Yes I do! You can't throw your whole life away over this Morgana!"
She stopped in her tracks, "Over this?!" She turned around, "Do you honestly know what this means? What this is doing to my head?" She broke down.
Morgause clutched her little sister and held her to her chest, "I'm sorry Morgana… I'm just trying to help."
"I know. I'll come and stay with you." She relented, "But I'm not going to America… I've played there before, I'll play there again."
Morgause smiled comfortingly, "I'll look after you Morgana, I promise."
*****
Merlin watched as Arthur tossed and turned on his sofa, sleeping off the alcohol. Though watching Morgana sleep was a prettier sight to say the least, he now knew that they were both safe. Morgause would take good care of Morgana; he doubted that she would take her eyes off her over the next few days, making sure that she didn't try anything stupid.
Morgause was a strange creature; to most she seemed rather ferocious and threatening (but then most successful businesswomen probably did, Merlin considered), even the mighty Uther had been scared of her at times (and with good reason too), but with Morgana she was a different woman; she was loving and caring, she knew that she had suffered such great loss in her life time and she didn't want her to ever feel any pain again. Merlin feared what she would do now.
Getting bored, he turned on the television. He flicked through the channels, trying to find something other than a monotonous daytime television programme to watch. As he came to a news channel he was faced with a picture of Morgana and Arthur, hand in hand.
"-the heir and the pianist have been dating for around a year. The fairytale has ended in a sickening way. It is not known why Mr Pendragon did not tell them of their true relationship. All public appearances due to be made by the family have been cancelled until further notice."
He turned onto the next channel;
"-rumours that Le Fay is pregnant have been strongly refuted by the family's press officer. It is not known whether either Arthur or Morgana will be taking legal action, their father and-"
*****
Their father.
Morgana started to shake, "My father is Gorlois le Fay." She whispered to no one. She felt an anger rise within her, the burning feelings of the night before rushed back into her veins. She couldn't handle it anymore.
*****
Morgause heard a crash coming from downstairs followed by a sickening scream, "Morgana!" she ran downstairs, was it Uther, was he here?
She entered the living room to find Morgana alone, flying around the room, tearing it apart, a red mist shrouding her.
"Morgana stop!" she ran over to her sister, grabbing her arms trying to restrain her. Morgana threw her whole body around, trying to escape her grasp, "Morgana please!" she kept a firm grip and pulled her to the floor, "You've got to calm down sweetie." She stroked her hair, shushing her and gently rocking her as her slender body became limp.
"I don't understand." Morgana whispered, trying to blink her tears away.
"Neither do I." Morgause sighed. She had become a hardened woman over the years, she had to, but seeing her sister in pain filled her with so much emotion, breaking all of her barriers.
"It's all over the news… how did they find out?" Morgana asked, a glassy expression on her face.
Morgause shrugged, "Everyone wants to know about 'Armor'… you're an it couple, people like to know what's going on with you. You should know, the amount of paparazzi that follow you around sometimes."
"We were an it couple. We never asked to be, we never wanted any of that! Do you know how hard it's been for me to gain credibility in the classical world when there are constantly photos of me in 'HELLO!' and 'OK!'?" She wiped the tears from her eyes, moving away from Morgause a little, "I just want a normal life, I want to be successful in what I do and most of all, I want Arthur… but that's all impossible isn't it?"
"You are successful in what you do Gana; you're a world class pianist."
Morgana turned to look at her, "That wasn't my point Morgause." She stood up and surveyed the damage she had caused, "I'm sorry about this."
"Don't worry about it; it's all replaceable." She cringed as she noticed her favourite one-of-a-kind vase lying in fifty different pieces, "I can just… I'll just get another."
"Sorry." Morgana started to pick up the cushions off the floor, placing them back onto one of the sofas.
Morgause noticed a spot of blood on the edge of a piece of vase "What has he done to you?" Morgause asked solemnly, just out of range of Morgana's ears.