Worth it All

Chapter 17

<William>
I should not be awake...
He smiles as the early morning sun comes in slowly through the window in front of the bed, Scarlet's hair shining a dark brown in the orangish sun light as he gently moves a piece away from her face.
To wake up like this every day...
Yeah, that made his heart race.
She snuggled closer to his chest as her eyes started to open slowly, him smiling down at her.
"Hey gorgeous, sleep we-"
He holds his jaw from the surprised upper cut as she launches out of bed and covers her mouth with her hands.
"Are you ok?!"
"Morning to you too."
She takes a minute to remember where she is before climbing back on the bed to check his jaw, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be, I'm just glad I woke up with you, not so much the punch but..." He gives her a lopsided grin before wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on her shoulder, "Missed you babe girl."
"Missed you too teddy bear."
"I'm never gonna not love you calling me that." He gives her a gentle kiss before pulling her closer to deepen it. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing flat against him.
Mmmm don't let this be a dream...
He was just about to pray to never wake up when Merlin opens the door.
"Hey you two-" his eyes shoot open as he practically slams the door.

William and Scarlet stare at each other for a minute before busting into laughter. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before standing up. She was still in the clothes she wore yesterday, her shirt slowly riding up as she stretched back then stopping just above her belly button. William went from excited to worried as he saw the multitude of scars that covered her stomach.

She quickly pulls down her shirt as she sees him staring and blushes, "What are you looking at?"
"You really wanna know?" He smiles and stands up, stretching himself.
"I'm looking at an amazingly,  beautiful, and smart girl who I care about."
He didn't think it was possible for her to blush more as he laughed lightly, so she threw his shirt at him. They went down stairs to the most amazing smell, turning the corner at the stairs to the kitchen where Cody was cooking Stromboli with at least a dozen guys devouring it as fast as he could make it.
"Are you gonna leave any for us?" William says with a sigh.
Joe stands up with a half eaten one in his mouth, "Nope." His words were muffled by the food as all the guys laughed,  Cody walking over with two full plates. Scarlet grabs both of them and walks into the living room while William hugs Cody and throws a fork at Joe.
"What was that for?"
"Being a jackass. "
"Only for you, sugar tits."
Just as William was ready to brawl, a loud whistle rang out from behind him, Scarlet with her hands on her hips, "What are you idiots doing?"
"He started it!" They point at each other like toddlers as she smacks William upside the head.
"You, dummy, get your ass on the couch and eat."
He couldn't help but smile at her adorable tone, doing as he was told.  He faintly heared her threatening Joe as he left the room and sat down. He was just about to start eating as she walked back in the living room, a monster and a bottle of root beer in her hands.
"Awe you remembered."
"Shut up, you're not as lovable as you think."
"I'm pretty damn lovable, last night you seemed to think so too." That proceeded in getting a smile, followed by a little shine in those blue eyes, the kind that made you want to pull her in closer.
They finished eating their food and William took their plates in to be cleaned, they were about to get on the game system when there was a loud knock on the door. William opened it, allowing 4 large men and a small older women in. She was in her late fourties from her looks, dressed in a dark purple dress with a golden bracelet on her right arm, a wolf face with ruby eyes was imbedded on it.
"Where is Scarlet?" The women asked politely but firmly, asserting her authority and high stature.

Scarlet stood up and stepped towards her, "How may I help you, your Majesty?"
The queen smiled at her straight forward words, "Please dear, no need for formal addressing. Just call me Ariana."
"Alright, Ariana, how may we help you?"
Her face turned from that of kind and relaxed to quite serious, "An attempt on my life was made as you no doubt heard. I need to you to bring in the son of a bitch that made it happen."
"I thought the attemptee offed himself before he could be questioned? How can we get more info?"

All of the eyes in the room went to Cody and Joe, who just walked in with a giant plate of chicken tenders, one hanging half eaten in Cody's mouth. William let out a long sigh, "As much as it pains me to say it, they could do it." Cody quickly devoured the other half of the chicken tender, "Do what?"
"We need you to find who made an attempt on the queens life."
Cody and Joe both exchanged a huge WTF look before nodding, "Fine." They said in unison.
"We're going to need the guards name, address, family, friends, schooling, the works." Ariana smiled at Scarlet's charisma and intelligence, handing her a file, "This has everything on him, if you need anything else, only ask."
"How long do we have?" William asked, taking a swig of his root beer.
"Six days."
"Six days?!" They all said at once.

The queen gave a wicked grin, "I have no doubt that you can do it, after all, you are the best of the best. Don't disappoint me." She exited the building the same way she had came in, closing the door behind her. Scarlet plopped down next to William with a loud sigh, "This is gonna suck."
"Yup, completely. You can do it though, babe girl."
"I know I can, but can you idiots keep up?"
He gave a big grin, somehow seeing that challenging tone as adorable, "Only one way to find out."