Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The wind was cold but Merlin didn’t feel it. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt and joggers, along with a beanie that protected his large ears and kept his tousled hair in check. But for all that he was exposed to the autumn chill, the adrenaline pumping through his body kept him from noticing.

He loved this hour of the day, when everyone was just about to wake up. The dark sky was fading to pink over the city skyline, causing the tallest buildings to glow as the sun rose behind them. His city.

Okay, he didn’t own the city, but it certainly felt like that when he was running and jumping and flipping from building to building without a care in the world.

Merlin vaulted off the edge of one roof and just barely managed to grab hold of the other on the opposite side. A quick glance below told him he’d just evaded certain death. He ran up the side of a partition and pushed himself up and over. Running with a smile so wide made his mouth dry, and he licked his chapped lips. He ran up to the air conditioning unit, jumped and thrust his hands forward to propel himself over, and landed neatly on his feet.

Finally, he made it to the top of the tallest building in the city, the Protectors’ tower. His heart swelled with pride (and the need for oxygen) as he watched the sun rise over the metropolis skyline. He spread his arms, closed his eyes, and faced the heavens. He was close to the edge and looked like he was about to take a leap of faith straight into the pavement below, but he was really just about to finish his morning routine.

He drew in a great breath and yelled, “MY NAME IS MERLIN EMRYS. YOUR LIFE IS A MEANINGLESS WINK OF EXISTENCE. NOW WAKE UP AND GO ABOUT YOUR MISERABLE DAY, YOU PATHETIC MOTHERFUCKERS!”

The Protectors had tried for months to stop Merlin from climbing up their tower and shouting every morning, had even set out snipers that would fire warning shots at him. Now they just gave up and let him do his thing. Sometimes on clear, summer mornings his yell would cause a few lights in surrounding buildings to flicker on. But on a chilly, late-September dawn such as this, his voice was carried away by the wind. Still, it was a great way to start one’s day, standing on top of the world.

Merlin smiled one more time at the golden glow of the sun over the city, then ran back the way he came.

“This has got to stop.”

Arthur Pendragon, age twenty, was still very much afraid of his father. Uther Pendragon was the head of the police force (or the Protectors) in Camelot. In the year 3013, being a Protector meant more than just catching thieves, arresting whores, and those who disturbed the peace. In fact, sometimes it meant espionage, which was why Arthur was sitting in his father’s office today.

“I will not have a group of children wreaking havoc on my city, day in and day out. It’s time they all spent a night behind bars and had their guardians take them back home to whatever posh lifestyle they thought they were too good for.”

Arthur nodded, though he knew the youngest of the gang was at least his age, hardly a child. The oldest had been estimated to be about thirty, but he didn’t bother pointing this out to his father.

“What do you propose we do?” Arthur asked.

Uther stopped pacing. “You’re young and still in training, so nobody will have seen you on patrol yet. If we want to catch these hoodlums, we’ll have to do it from the inside.”

Arthur nodded in understanding.

“Not a single officer has been able to track down their hideout. I want you to go see Morgana. She’ll give you the details.” Uther waved a hand in dismissal and Arthur stood to leave. “Be careful, Arthur. These kids are dangerous.”

“Yes, Father.”

As he closed the door to his father’s office behind him, he wondered what made the gang—the Knights, as they called themselves—so dangerous. All he’d ever heard about them was what everyone knew: the vandalism, the theft, and the occasional riot-inciting behaviour that left the Protectors with a media nightmare. There had been one riot a couple years back, but things had calmed down since then.

There were also rumours of heavy drug use, but then, those could be only rumours.

Arthur supposed Uther feared them because if one gang formed, another surely would. And if not that, then one day they might try to encourage anarchy.

Arthur shook his head. It was, by far, a long shot. He thought of the group only as people who wanted to give a big two finger salute to society and do things their way. They were nothing to fear, surely.

“Arthur,” Morgana greeted him when he entered her cosy workplace.

“Afternoon, Morgana.”

“This is it, your first big break, huh?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“This case is your first chance to prove yourself as a worthy member of the Protectors. Isn’t it exciting?”

“You sound excited enough for the both of us. Besides, to me it’s more like being thrown into the lion’s den. I’m still in training.”

“Oh, it is, to be sure,” she nodded, suddenly serious. “That was as a sister. As your superior, I must inform you that this is the most delicate of matters. The future of Camelot depends on you. No pressure.”

Morgana smiled sweetly and Arthur snorted. “How about you just give me the details so I can get on with this already?”

“Initiative, good. Alright, let’s get down to business.” She swivelled in her chair, collected an array of folders and swivelled back around.

“These,” she intoned dramatically, “are the Knights of Camelot.”

She slid the first folder over and Arthur tried not to roll his eyes. He opened the cream-coloured folder and saw a man with bulging biceps and piercing eyes.

“Percival, the muscle. He’s like their bodyguard. Someone gets on the Knights’ bad side, they have to deal with him.”

Arthur raised a worried eyebrow, but Morgana quickly reassured him.

“Don’t worry, the reports say if you don’t mess with him, he’s actually a pretty decent bloke.”

She slid the next folder across the table. “Elyan. He’s their tech guy. Kind of a genius, and expert hacker before he joined the Knights. He’s a whiz at computers even in today’s modern age.” Arthur thought she sounded kind of impressed.

“Next, Gwen, Elyan’s sister. We can only assume she’s the help, seeing as she’s rarely been sighted. No doubt the men have her fulfilling some sexist role, wherever they’re holed up.

“Lance, Gwen’s boyfriend. He’s good at making things. Carpentry, mechanics, you name it. He and Elyan often work together to create toys that pose minor threats. He’s also not seen much outside of their hideout.

“Merlin is their scout and messenger boy and pretty much everything else. You’ll want to watch out for him, as he’s known to be by far the most mental of the group. They actually call him the Mad Scout. Usually, he’s the first one people mention when they tell their friends about the gang, and is why their reputation is what it is. He’s usually seen running on rooftops and signals the presence of Knights in the area. Merlin’s the youngest, at twenty years old, but also the most dangerous. As you can see, his file is the largest, as there’s a lot of speculation on his mental stability and drug addiction. Just be wary of him.

“Then finally, their leader, Leon. He’s the oldest, the wisest, the bravest, and is definitely the brains behind the whole thing. If anyone in there has information, it’s him. You’ll want to shadow him as much as possible, but don’t, for the love of Camelot, get yourself caught.”

Arthur tried not to let his growing anxiety show and spread the files open in a semicircle around him. He wondered what they all had in common that made them want to ransack a perfectly respectable city. Except Merlin, who didn’t exactly need a reason, but for the hell of it.

There wasn’t much to go by. No hobbies and interests section, or previous places of employment. They all seemed to just come out of nowhere, with no background whatsoever.

Maybe the hacker, Elyan, had wiped it all. Maybe they really were just a bunch of nobodies. Either way, it was Arthur’s job to flesh out these skeletal files and rid the city of a nuisance, and by the gods he would do it.

Merlin spotted him long before he even reached the first checkpoint. As scout, it was his job to watch for such things. He laughed as he watched the boy stare hopelessly at the wrinkled paper in his hand.

The new recruit—Arthur he said his name was—had only passed the first test. Though Merlin had never had to endure the trial himself, he liked to imagine that he’d do much better than the others that had. To be a Knight, one had to be sharp, and passing the trial was just one test of perseverance and loyalty.

Merlin launched himself onto frog legs and peered once again over the edge below, watching the blond with keen interest.

Arthur knew getting the Knights’ attention would be difficult, but he’d managed to do it, hanging around long enough in their favourite vandalised area to finally lure out one of their recruiters, or “squires” as they liked to call them.

He’d given the man his name and in return he received a piece of paper with what seemed to be a simple instruction on it. The squire had disappeared before Arthur could ask a single question.

After a minute of staring stupidly at the words on the paper, he decided he’d better try to make some progress before it got dark.

Now it was an hour and a half later and he’d only gotten past the first test. “Take a Rest by the End, then Right, then Left, and Right again,” the line had instructed.

He’d figured out that easily. Go to the hotel on Enders Street, turn right, left, then right again. As he had turned into the alley he saw the next white piece of paper flutter down to the street in front of him, accompanied by a shadow passing overhead and a faint chuckle in the wind.

Merlin, Arthur identified him, the free runner.

“Give me food and I will live; give me water and I will die,” the next note read. Arthur got it after only a few minutes and looked around for the nearest source of fire.

That was easier said than done, however. He looked at people smoking against street corners, but what would he do with the fire once he had it? It made more sense for the next letter to be in some fireproof bag in the midst of flames he’d have to douse.

A good twelve minutes passed and he thought he heard amused chuckling from above him. When he finally dared to look up, expecting to see a wild-eyed Merlin, the sun blinded him and he covered his hand with his face.

Which is when he felt like an utter idiot for not realising sooner. The sun. Of course it was the sun.

He held up the paper to the light and the rays shone through to reveal a hidden message. “I run, but never walk. I have a mouth, but never talk. I have a head but I never weep. I have a bed, but I never sleep.”

Arthur went through all the things in his mind but could only think of a few things that fit into one category. Noses ran, and never walked. Animals had mouths and never talked. Pillows didn’t have a bed, but they were in one, and they certainly never slept. Statues had heads that never wept. But he couldn’t think of anything that had all four in common.

He sighed. He felt as if he was back where he started.

“He got it,” Merlin sang into his headset.

“About time,” Elyan’s voice came back through the earpiece. “He might actually finish.”

“Doubtful. He looks just as confused as before now that he’s read the hidden message.”

“Well, at least he made it farther than the others.”

“I wish he’d give up already. It’s getting cold out here,” Merlin complained.

“Says the person who never wears a jacket,” Gwen cut in.

“Oh hiya, Mother. And I’ve told you, jackets slow me down. They get in the way when I’m running and I always get hot. Might as well not wear one.”

“You could always wear those tight-fitting ones. Or you know, something with sleeves,” she suggested.

“Sleeves don’t come ‘til snow. You know that.”

Merlin could practically hear the eye-roll and longed again to be home with the rest of them. That was the only trouble with being the scout; it got lonely and he often had to find creative ways to distract himself.

“Hey, he’s moving again.” Merlin jumped to his feet. “I’ll tell you if he’s on the right track in a few. Out.” Merlin turned off his earpiece and followed Arthur silently from above.

It wasn’t a far walk to the nearest river, just a mile or so east and he’d be standing right at the mouth. This river was man-made, during the 2800s if Arthur remembered correctly.

 The head of the Protectors at the time decided it would add to the “architectural appeal” of the city, so he destroyed the slums there and ran a river through it. Thousands of people lost their homes but the city itself earned a tonne of money from the tourists that flooded in to be at the grand opening.

Arthur made it to the bridge in fourteen minutes. He waited another three, not sure what to do from there. He felt stupid looking around and worried that he’d gotten it wrong. Eventually there was the steady sound of splashing and he saw the squire from earlier rowing up in a small canoe. He now wore the uniform of the boat ride tour guide, but still had the same shifty smile. He pulled into the dock near the bridge and gestured for Arthur to get in.

The man rowed at a leisurely pace that had Arthur tapping his shoe impatiently. Feeling the boat tip slightly though, he stopped and settling for drumming his fingers on his kneecaps.

Finally, the squire stopped at the last dock on the tour and Arthur got out. Without a word or even a glance, the man paddled back the way he came. Resting on the dock, beneath a coiled bit of rope was what Arthur hoped to be the last note.

“The man who invented it doesn’t want it. The man who bought it doesn’t need it. The man who needs it doesn’t know it.”

The first thing that came to Arthur’s mind, irrationally, was a haircut, but then he surveyed his surroundings. No hair cuttery in sight. There was however a bit of a morbid sign in a funeral parlour, claiming “Coffins for SALE. Buy one, get the other one FREE.”

Somehow he knew this would be the final riddle, and that their hideout lay within the parlour. He twisted the silver ring on his thumb as nonchalantly as possible to activate the cameras in his contact lenses and the microphone on the ring itself. He walked briskly to the shop door.

A bell signalled his entrance and the man at the counter looked up at him. Arthur recognised him as Leon from the files, and his heart raced at the knowledge that he was in the right place.

“How can I help you today sir?”

At first, Arthur didn’t know what to say. He stood there doe-eyed for what seemed to him an hour but was really five seconds.

“Uh, yes, I was wondering if you also sold urns? My mum wanted to be burned and have some of her ashes thrown in the river. She wasn’t keen on her corpse rotting in a coffin.” Arthur made some slapdash attempt at putting all the clues together in the hopes that he was doing the right thing.

Luckily, Leon smiled and gestured for him to follow. “This way, sir.”

Arthur followed him to a room littered with coffins thrown haphazardly about and covered in spider webs. Leon walked up to one that was leaning perfectly erect against a wall and opened the lid to reveal a hidden staircase.

“After you, Arthur.”

The gang was in a bit of an uproar. Elyan and Gwen were excited at the prospect of someone new joining. Lance was wary of the stranger and lingered near Gwen protectively. Percival eyed him, sizing him up, but didn’t care much either way about the new guy. Merlin sat perched on a bar that hung from the ceiling, like a bird watching from far away with interest.

For all his cockiness, Merlin was actually quite shy, and didn’t shake hands with the new boy. He simply nodded a hello when their eyes met briefly and left it at that, content to be ignored for the rest of the evening.

One member Arthur had not been informed about was Gaius, a man who looked to be in his seventies, maybe even eighties if he was healthy for his age. It was no wonder; he probably never left the hideout, or the Castle as they had named it. These guys clearly had a thing for all things medieval.

Everyone went silent as Gaius came forth and greeted him. “Welcome, Arthur. It has been a long time since someone new entered these old halls. I congratulate you and wish you luck.”

Leon coughed. “Right then. Just one more thing left to take care of.” He stepped forward to bug check him but Elyan put a hand to his chest.

“Actually, I’ve taken care of it. I managed to fix the x-ray machine in the time that passed since Merlin’s, er, request.”

Merlin laughed naughtily somewhere, but could no longer be seen.

“Where’d the lunatic go anyways?” Leon asked, wondering the same as Arthur.

“Probably back to his chambers to make it suitable,” Lance supplied.

“We haven’t got any more rooms? Are you sure?”

“Unless you want him to sleep in the Dungeon,” Elyan said. “And Merlin has the biggest room.”

Leon still looked uncertain. Everyone was thinking the same thing: either one of them could give up their room and share with Merlin, or the new guy could. None of their rooms were big enough for two occupants. With a few meaningful glances at each other, it was decided.

Leon patted Arthur encouragingly on the back. “Well, let’s show you to your room then.”

Merlin couldn’t keep still. He jumped from swinging platform to swinging platform, hung upside down, rocked back and forth in his bed, paced a bit, then finally decided, fuck it, and pulled out a spliff. A few deep drags and he was calm.

The steel door to his chamber slid open. He gave a bleary-eyed nod to Leon and Arthur.

“It’s the most spacious room. Merlin seems to need it,” Leon was explaining. “But still plenty of space for you. Here’s your bed, your dresser, and wardrobe. There’s some small things like toothbrushes and hand mirrors in the main store room. Anything else you need we’ll get for you. Until of course you learn to get it for yourself.” Leon looked about the room then rested his gaze again on Arthur, who stood with his arms at his side limply.

“That’s about it. I’ll leave you to get acquainted with Merlin.” He turned and looked pointedly at the pale man spread-eagled on the floor, smoke rising from the joint in the mouth. “And for gods’ sake Merlin, try to behave.”

“G’bye Mum.” Merlin waved him away.

After Leon left, Arthur felt that he really had quite literally been thrown into the lion’s den. Here he was, roommates with the one person he’d been told to avoid. He hadn’t seen anything yet, but if the Knights were that worried about Merlin misbehaving and were none too eager to room with him, maybe all the rumours he’d heard were true. Merlin could really be the most dangerous member in the gang.

Arthur sat on his new bed and looked around more intently, giving his sister on the other end of the cameras a good view. Merlin stared at him blatantly and Arthur made an effort not to catch his eye. Then Merlin started laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” Merlin drawled and kept laughing hysterically.

“Then why are you laughing?”

“I’ve no idea.”

After a few minutes more of uncontrollable laughter, it finally came to a gradual stop, with a few hiccups every so often.

“Are you always like this?” Arthur asked, hesitantly. He didn’t want to trigger some sort of manic wrath.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Like...delirious?”

“You’re asking if there’s ever a time when I’m serious. Normal.” It wasn’t a question. Arthur nodded in response anyway. “When I’m alone. All. Alone.” The look in his eyes confirmed Arthur’s suspicions about Merlin’s mental state and he decided he’d tread more carefully.

“So what do you do for fun in this place?”

“Shh.”

Arthur raised a curious eyebrow but remained quiet all the same.

Merlin took a final hit from his joint and crushed it beside him. He raised his arms perpendicular above his prone body and laughed giddily.

“Me arms. Me wee little arms! They’re like chicken legs!” he exclaimed. Merlin waved his lean arms above him and marvelled at the grace of them. He felt as though he was levitating, lying on a cloud and using his arms to paddle through the air currents.

All of a sudden the pale limbs dropped and Merlin lay sprawled like a corpse, but his breath was obviously coming slow and heavy in his chest. Arthur just watched with wide eyes. He’d never seen someone high before.

When Merlin rolled and managed to stand up, Arthur got a closer look at the scout’s eyes. They were blown wide and were incredibly grey-blue, like storm clouds just beginning to go away after a summer rain. Arthur felt an odd tug in his chest as he looked into them and they looked back just as piercingly.

He was so focused on figuring out the mystery behind those eyes that he didn’t notice them getting closer until they were right in front of his face, and the smell of marijuana overwhelmed him.

Merlin stayed like that a while, his head lowered to Arthur’s level and swaying side to side, like a bird curiously contemplating something new in its cage. Arthur was too confused and honestly, a bit frightened, to do anything but stare back.

“Hmm.” Merlin grunted then. “Fergot what I was gonna say.”

He spun around unsteadily, lost his footing, and ended up face down on the floor. He didn’t get up, but he did remember what he was going to say.

“If ya touch my stuff. I’ll take yer bollocks. And I’ll shove ‘em down yer throat,” he said cheerily.

“Same goes to you,” Arthur replied in what he hoped wasn’t a shaky voice.

“Glad we’ve come to an understanding. Now go ‘way.” Merlin flicked his wrist in the direction of the door half-heartedly.

Arthur, who had nothing to unpack and was eager to get out and explore anyway, left willingly. He made his way back to the main atrium, mostly because he didn’t want to get lost in the long narrow corridors that all looked the same.

He found Gwen and Lance sitting at a table looking at a three dimensional blueprint. It looked like some sort of new device, but for what purpose Arthur couldn’t tell.

Just as he approached, the hologram disappeared and Lance shut off his design tablet. Gwen looked over her shoulder and smiled when she saw Arthur.

“All settled in?” she asked, waving for Arthur to join them at the table.

Arthur took a seat and shrugged, but smiled politely. “I didn’t bring anything so there wasn’t much to be done but be creeped out by Merlin.”

The couple laughed at that. “It certainly smells like he’s been up to his old antics again,” Lance remarked, nodding to Arthur’s clothes.

“Yeah, about that. Is he always that way?” Arthur questioned.

Lance snorted but Gwen’s expression softened. “Not all the time. He’s a decent enough bloke, he’s just...”

“A druggie,” Lance supplied.

Gwen didn’t deny it. “Well. He’s good at being a scout and that’s a good enough reason to keep him round.”

Arthur could tell there was something else, though. “But?”

“But Merlin is like a little brother to me. He’s got the potential to be something so much more and he just wastes it. It’s disappointing. I don’t want him to be such a liability but if he keeps up at the rate he’s going...” She sighed the rest of her sentence and Lance placed his hands comfortingly over hers.

“And the rumours about...he’s not completely mental, is he?”

They both laughed again. “He’s fucking insane,” Lance stated bluntly.

Gwen shook her head, still chuckling. “No. He’s not crazy, he’s just a bit weird. But he’s just as sane and as intelligent as you or I.”

“I have yet to witness such evidence,” Lance said.

“It’s true, though. He knows what he’s doing when he has to make quick decisions on the outside. Sometimes even more so than Leon.”

“Don’t let him catch you saying that.”

Arthur cut in. “So he’s not unstable? He won’t try to kill me in my sleep?”

Lance threw his head back with laughter but Gwen frowned deeply. She slapped Lance’s arm to get him to quit then looked back to Arthur.

“Is that really what people say about him?” She looked concerned.

Arthur shifted in his seat. “Not exactly. Just that he’s dangerous.”

“Who’s dangerous?” Percival’s deep voice sounded through the room suddenly as he sauntered in.

“Merlin,” Lance replied with a smirk full of meaning.

“Ah.” Percival sunk into the chair next to Arthur and rested his arm on the back right near Arthur’s head. Arthur tried not to tense up too visibly.

“He’s not dangerous to those he cares about. Just those Leon sets him loose on,” Lance explained to Arthur.

Gwen slapped his arm again. “Lance! Merlin is not an animal!”

“Coulda fooled me what with hanging around and climbing about like a monkey.”

Percival’s responding laugh was deep and resounding. The man’s relaxed laughter calmed Arthur, who had been on high alert.

“Both of you are terrible,” Gwen said disapprovingly.

“Sorry, Mother,” Percival apologised. “But it’s not like it bothers him. He knows his reputation. Might even kind of like it,” he added with a wink in Arthur’s direction.

“What makes you say that?” Arthur asked.

Percival stretched his limbs then folded his arms impressively across his chest. “This’ll be just one of the many things you learn about us Knights in your first few weeks here. First thing: We don’t like to kill people,” he said matter-of-factly. “We’re not the bad guys. The Protectors are the bad guys.”

“I know that,” Arthur made sure to interrupt. “That’s why I joined in the first place.”

“Yeah. Just making sure. I know there’s a lot of shit going around about us being miscreant kids that vandalise and steal and kill innocent people, like we’re some sort of gang. We’re not a gang. We’re a cult.”

Lance laughed heartily again. “We are not a cult, mate. We’re more like a...a group of people that work towards the goal of seeing the Protectors dethroned.”

“Like anarchists?” Arthur suggested.

“Yeah. Exactly like that. We’re a group of anarchists.” Percival, Lance, and even Gwen nodded. Morgana was probably grinning madly over this footage back at the tower. It was basically a confession.

“So as I was saying,” Percival continued. “We’re not cold hearted killers. We don’t enjoy killing people. But we do it when we have to. At first it was just me, for the obvious reasons.” He flexed and the others rolled their eyes.

“Then Merlin joined and after...well, let’s just say he proved he could handle it as well. Nobody else in the Knights can stomach dead bodies as well as us, so we do the dirty work.”

Lance made a face just thinking about it.

“But what makes you say he likes his reputation as a mental case?” Arthur asked again.

Percival sighed. “I suppose you’ll see tomorrow when you’re out with him.”

They sat in silence for a while and Arthur was burning to ask more questions but he seemed to have asked enough for one night. Then a timer went off somewhere and Gwen jumped up.

“Dinner’s on!”

“Dinner” turned out to be some kind of stew that Arthur eyed in distaste. The rest of the gang though had dug in immediately as if it were their favourite meal.

“If you don’t eat that, mate, I most certainly will,” Merlin whispered next to Arthur.

“At least try it first,” Gwen encouraged. All who were seated at the round table laughed.

“Insulting the cook on the first day isn’t the best way to make friends,” Elyan teased.

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean any offence, I just. Never had anything like this before.” He brought his nose closer to the steam. “But it smells nice so I suppose...”

He dipped his spoon into the thick stew and stirred it a bit, observing the contents. There were carrots, potatoes, celery, and some kind of meat Arthur couldn’t identify. He sampled the broth first and, finding it to his liking, dared to add some vegetables to his next spoonful.

The Knights watched him take these first two bites. Arthur looked up and raised his thumb. When he swallowed he asked, “What’s the, uh—”

“Rabbit,” Lance said with a grin.

“Er, why rabbit?”

Merlin snorted as he spooned his own meal into his mouth. “’Course you don’t know,” he muttered. “Probably lived in the lap of luxury before you fell from grace like the rest of ‘em.”

“Most food these days, meat especially, is genetically engineered. Nutritionally enhanced,” Elyan explained, ignoring Merlin.

“It is?” Arthur frowned. Why had he never heard about this?

“Well, they say it’s enhanced but it actually isn’t all that good for you. It’s scientifically proven to increase brain stimulation and reasoning abilities, but it’s also a drain on the body,” Elyan continued. “It’s essentially poison.”

“And people just eat it anyways?” Arthur was appalled.

“They don’t know any better. All the information on genetically modified food has been erased to keep them ignorant.”

“Then how do you know?”

Elyan laughed. “I’m a hacker. I just did a little digging.”

Arthur pursed his lips in contemplation but finally dared to ask. “Does Uther know or is it all the scientists’ doing? Surely he wouldn’t allow this.”

Merlin snorted again. “Oh, he just loves it. Population control,” he said bitterly. “Fake food makes for smarter citizens but also shortens their lifespan.”

Arthur understood. “Good for business and good for the crowded streets.” That’s why whenever we ate out at public events… Arthur reflected. He’s kept me completely in the dark this whole time. And then just pushed me out into the world to do his bidding! What else has my family been keeping from me?

Arthur sighed and dug into the stew. It wasn’t the professionally prepared meals he was used to but it was better than poison. He avoided the pitying expressions of the Knights, but he felt his knee being squeezed softly under the table. It was Merlin.

The first night went about as Arthur had expected.

After dinner, he and Merlin walked back to their chamber, Merlin humming contentedly. Once there, Merlin put on headphones and listened to music whilst hanging from one of the horizontal bars, ignoring Arthur completely. He didn’t know what song Merlin was listening to, but he always hummed the same tune.

Arthur lay back and catalogued all the information he’d gathered so far. The location of the hideout was the most important: end of the man-made river, funeral parlour on the left, coffin in the back room. Then there were the people themselves. They all seemed nice, friendly even, much less intimidating than their files suggested. And Gaius was an unexpected development. It could be him, not Leon, who was the brains of it all. Morgana would be pleased.

He twisted his ring and shut off the feedback to the tower. He immediately felt better somehow. It was odd knowing that everything he saw and heard was being monitored.

It was also disconcerting knowing he’d been purposefully left ignorant of the catastrophic effects “normal” food had on society. He’d have to ask Morgana more about that when he reported to her, but for now he couldn’t trouble himself with it. He had to focus on the mission.

Arthur turned and watched Merlin swing back and forth innocently and utterly at peace. The others seemed to be normal, honest people, simply with different views than the rest of Camelot, and therefore caught in a bad situation. Merlin was, as Gwen had said, just weird.

Merlin swung around the bar, flipped, and landed on his feet, snapping Arthur out of his thoughts.

“Sleep,” was all Merlin said and the lights went out.

He heard the scout throw his shoes somewhere and climb into bed. Arthur slipped off his trainers and pulled the blanket over his head.

All was silent until the mumbling began.

Arthur was just about to drift off into dreamland when he heard it, low and breathy and barely audible.

He poked his head out of his warm cocoon and looked over at his new roommate. “Merlin?” he whispered.

Merlin didn’t respond so Arthur assumed he was asleep. In a way the low mumbling was soothing background noise, like rain against a window, and soon Arthur nodded off as well.

Hours later, Merlin woke with a start, sweaty and breathless.

“NO!” he screamed.

Arthur jumped to wakefulness but made no sound. He listened intently to the sounds of rustling clothing as Merlin dressed. When the door opened, he could see Merlin rubbing his eyes in the light from the hallway.

He wanted to follow. He desperately wanted to follow this mysterious boy and find out what the hell had happened to him in the night. Arthur looked around for a clock, but couldn’t find one. Did time mean anything to them down here?

He finally got up and decided that if he was caught he’d say he was looking for the toilet, which very well might have been just where Merlin was heading, but Arthur had a feeling that wasn’t the case.

Out in the dim corridor, he felt a feeling of dread wash over him. What if he got lost? It was like a maze down here. He knew that turning right would take him to the main area eventually, but what about left?

Feeling suddenly adventurous, Arthur twisted his ring and went left.

Merlin was yanked from sleep by his own screams. He’d dreamt of that night again, the night of the July Riot. He slid a clammy palm down his face and stood up. He knew there was no getting back to sleep. He might as well go talk to Kilgharrah.

He pulled on the first pair of shorts he found and started off toward the phone room. Kilgharrah, as always, made him wait until the fifth ring.

“Hello Merlin.”

“Hey.”

“I suppose this call, like many others, is simply a social one.”

“It is.”

“How often must I reiterate? I have no time for petty matters such as these.”

“And yet you never tell me what it is you are so busy doing,” Merlin quipped.

“It is not yet time. But soon. You must be patient.”

Merlin had never seen Kilgharrah, only heard his voice. It was deep and sounded ancient and all too wise. The man on the other end seemed to enjoy keeping Merlin in the dark about certain things.

It was Kilgharrah who had called first. Merlin had been running leisurely around when the phone had suddenly started ringing. In the five years that Merlin had been with the Knights, it had never rung, had simply been a mysterious phone box of which nobody knew the origins. But nearly a year ago and only a few times since, it had rung. Normally Kilgharrah let the Knights do things their own way, but when he needed to inform them of urgent matters or suggest a new course of action, he called and gave vital information which Merlin then relayed to the Knights.

He would speak to nobody but Merlin.

Kilgharrah was like a god. He seemed to have eyes everywhere and know everything. They didn’t worship him—they didn’t worship anything—but when they were in a tight spot, they fervently hoped that somehow Kilgharrah would get them out of it in his infinite wisdom.

“Fine fine fine,” Merlin replied impatiently. “Have you got the time, by the way?”

“Time for you to embrace your destiny.”

The line went dead and Merlin cursed the mystery man as he slammed the phone down.

Somehow, Arthur ended up in front of a door with a phone symbol.

He hadn’t even realised where his feet were taking him, just turning at random corners and hoping for the best. And then there he was.

He peered through the square window and saw Merlin stepping out of an outdated red phone box. The room was covered in colourful shoeprints and had different levels and platforms. Probably some sort of play area for Merlin to run in that also functioned as a phone room.

But who could Merlin of all people have to talk to, and this late at night? And who used wired telephones like that nowadays? Realising Merlin was making for the exit, Arthur stepped back and retreated to the nearest intersection of the hallway and pretended to look lost.

“Arthur?”

He turned around and saw a tired looking Merlin. “Merlin.”

“What are you doing awake?”

“Looking for the toilet.”

They stared at each other for an infinite moment until Merlin finally screwed his face into a wide smile, which Arthur immediately pinned as fake.

“You’re way off, mate. Come on, this way!”

Merlin sounded way too cheery and bubbly at this hour and Arthur wondered if maybe the whole mental thing was an act. But like at the dinner table, Merlin had surprised him with his touch, pressing an open palm lightly on the centre of his back to move him in the right direction. They went back to the main atrium and crossed to the opposite hallway.

“This is where the rest of their rooms are. I guess Gaius and I are kind of isolated like that,” Merlin explained.

“Where does Gaius sleep?” Arthur asked.

“Oh, he’s a few chambers down from me.”

“What’s in the chambers in between?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

“So why didn’t they put me in there?”

Merlin laughed. “When I say ‘nothing’ I don’t mean ‘an empty room’ kind of nothing, I mean like a ‘bottomless pit’ kind of nothing.”

“Oh.” Arthur swallowed. It was extremely comforting to know that if he opened the wrong door and walked right in he’d be meeting an imminent death.

“Yeah. Anyway, here’s the loo. Think you can make your way back by yourself?”

“Yeah.” Arthur nodded. “Thanks.”

Merlin continued walking in the opposite direction and Arthur stopped him.

“Where are you going?”

Merlin turned and smirked. “Nowhere.”

“An ‘empty room’ nowhere or a ‘bottomless pit’ nowhere?”

His smirk lessened and turned into more of an amused smile. “More like an ‘everywhere’ nowhere.” He turned around and walked off with his hands in his pockets, leaving Arthur to wonder just what the hell he meant.

Merlin almost immediately regretted not returning to his room after leading Arthur to the toilet. It was cold and he had on only shorts and shoes. He stood on the roof of the funeral parlour and stared up at the black October sky above. A breeze brushed the hair on his body and he shivered. He brought himself up on tiptoes and let himself fall forward. Just before his face could kiss the concrete he thrust his arms out and caught himself in a press-up stance, which he then proceeded to do until he had warmed up.

With warmth achieved, he stood back up, ran to the edge of the building and jumped off, rolling back into a standing position on the ground below. Specks of loose concrete dug into the exposed skin on his back as he rolled and he winced at the momentary pain but otherwise ignored it.

Merlin loved when it was so late that nobody roamed the streets and it belonged to him alone. After passing an all-night cafe he saw the time was just after four in the morning. He’d run for fifteen minutes, go back and eat a little something, maybe play a bit, then come back out for his real morning run at six. There was no way he could get back to sleep and he needed the distraction.

He counted to sixty a total of seven times in his head, then turned and started running back the way he’d come. He scaled the side of a building by the window ledges, jumped across to the roof of another, then ran up the wall of an adjoining building and pushed himself over the roof of that one. He restarted his count and made it back to the Castle by the time he reached sixty all of five times. The roofs were always faster.

Arthur was snoring when Merlin walked into his chamber. Unlike Merlin, he slept soundly. The scout stepped silently up to the blond’s sleeping figure and caressed his cheek on impulse. To Merlin’s surprise, Arthur leaned into the touch and let out a contented sigh.

Merlin’s heart beat a little faster and he dared to go further, bringing his hand up and stroking the soft fair hair. Arthur pouted as he slept and seemed to radiate childish innocence. Why would such a handsome young man lower himself to the sewers of Camelot when he could easily find another job? The Knights were a group of misfits, whereas Arthur could get along anywhere. The system worked for people like him. What cause had he to rebel?

“Arthur,” he whispered. Arthur stirred in his sleep and Merlin stepped back. Right. Shirt, then breakfast.

He picked up a deep purple shirt, the cleanest he could find among the clothes that littered his floor, and pulled it over his head.

They didn’t have much in the way of breakfast, what with most of the Knights being nocturnal and sleeping till midday. Still, Merlin managed to find a decent looking apple.

“You’re up even earlier than usual.”

Merlin spun around and saw Percival. “Yeah,” Merlin replied. “Didn’t take my sleep.”

Percival opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice.

“Again?” Merlin nodded. “Did you call him?” It was understood that he meant Kilgharrah. Merlin nodded once more. “Did he have anything to say?”

“Just told me to ‘embrace my destiny,’ whatever that means.” Merlin shrugged and took a bite of his apple.

“I suppose we’ll find out sooner or later. His words always mean something.”

Percival chugged the rest of the orange juice and went back to his chamber, leaving Merlin to sit in silence.

“HEY ARTHUR!”

Arthur sat up with a jolt, nearly banging his head into Merlin’s chin.

“What the hell, Merlin!” Arthur yelled, heart pumping furiously from the fright.

Merlin didn’t respond. Instead he jumped onto one of his swinging platforms and grinned in a way that made Arthur’s stomach drop with apprehension.

“Good, you’re up,” he said, grinning.

Arthur rubbed his eyes. “I’m pretty sure all of Camelot is up thanks to you.”

“They are!” Merlin hopped to another platform and started swinging from it dangerously on its chain. “But that’s not the point. The point is that I’ve been assigned to take you out. Supposed to give me a ‘sense of responsibility’ or something.” He rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Like I’m not responsible for hundreds of lives already.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Anyways, get up and let’s go.”

“Where are you taking me?” Arthur asked as he left the warmth of his blanket.

“Camelot.”

“Aren’t we already there? And I’ve grown up here my whole life, what more is there to see?”

“You’ll just have to wait and find out won’t you?”

“Merlin.”

Merlin’s feet hit the floor with a loud clap and Arthur wondered that the skinny lad didn’t collapse or split his calves in two.

“Get a move on, princess.”

“Or what?” Arthur stood his ground. Merlin stood centimetres from him. Their noses were almost touching.

For a moment they just faced each other, eyes searching the other’s for some hint of backing down. Merlin looked downright furious and kind of scary, but Arthur held his gaze. Then Merlin cracked a smile and Arthur breathed easy.

“Or we’ll be late, of course.”

Through a confusing series of twists and turns, they finally ended up at a door. It looked just like any other door in the whole bloody labyrinth, but then Arthur supposed that was the point.

Merlin opened it and it was like he’d been taken to another world. It was busy and loud and Arthur had no idea that a whole other city existed below the city above. There were vendors and tents and it was the sewer, but then it wasn’t. The whole place was like some kind of underground hive, buzzing with life.

Arthur looked around with what he knew must appear to be childish amazement and wonder, but he couldn’t help it. Who knew that so many people lived under the very streets that normal, everyday citizens walked?

Merlin tugged on his wrist and Arthur snapped back to reality. “Come on, then.”

Arthur let Merlin keep hold of his wrist, mostly because he didn’t want to get lost in the crowd. The people were dirty and had keen, suspicious eyes that Arthur didn’t like. But then some of them, like Leon or Gwen, had a welcoming feel about them, like everyone they met was family.

They suddenly dipped behind a wall and Merlin opened another door, this one made of wood. The room they entered was lit by a small lantern, and Arthur was surprised that it was actual fire. But then, they were underground and electricity would be difficult, especially if they didn’t want their presence known.

Leon and Percival sat at a table with a young man in a large overcoat. It seemed five sizes too big for him and in any other circumstance he would have looked ridiculous, but these people were poor and had to make do with what they had.

“Arthur, Merlin. Good, you’re here.” Leon waved them over to the table and they sat down. It was a cramped room and a tight fit.

“Merlin, you remember Mordred. Arthur, this is our Prot informant. He helps us from time to time,” Leon introduced them.

Upon closer inspection, Arthur did recognise him as a member of his father’s force. The Protectors had suspected for months now that the Knights had a rat among them, but didn’t know who. Apparently it was this Mordred fellow.

“Nice to meet you.” Arthur stuck out his hand, and Mordred shook it quickly.

“I have to get back soon or they’ll discover my absence.”

“Of course.” Leon nodded. “Tell Merlin what you heard.” Merlin leaned in closer.

“There’s talk of more security around the city. More importantly, above the city,” Mordred said quietly.

In contrast, Merlin slammed his fist on the table and shouted. “No! They can’t do that! Those are my rooftops, this is my city! Who the fuck do they think they’re messing with?”

Percival coughed and folded his arms so his muscles stood out. “Merlin,” he warned.

Merlin lowered his voice to a whisper, but that made it even more eerie to Arthur.

“I swear I’ll kill every last one of them. I’ll slit their fucking throats and they’ll think twice before trying to claim my territory. I swear it.”

“That’s not all,” Mordred continued. Arthur wondered how anyone could sit by so nonchalantly when death threats were being made. “It’s Dawn.”

Merlin swore. Leon pinched the bridge of his nose. Percival’s glare seemed to intensify.

“I don’t understand. What does that mean?” Arthur asked. All eyes turned to him.

Finally, Leon patted him on the back. “The Dawn is said to be the end of the Knights.”

“What exactly is the Dawn?”

“Where’d you get this boy from?” Mordred asked suddenly.

“Who, Arthur?” Merlin swung an arm around Arthur’s neck like they were best mates. “He lost his job, was roughed up one too many times by the Prots, and wanted to join the Knights. He passed the trial and here he is.”

Mordred froze. “The Son’s name is Arthur.”

The ring on Arthur’s thumb seemed to be burning into his skin.

“Okay, I get the impression that I’m being accused of something,” Arthur said. “What’s all this about dawns, and nights and the sun?”

Leon opened his mouth to speak but Merlin shut him up with a wave of his hand. “I’ll fill him in.” He pulled Arthur in close, like they were sharing a secret, and he supposed in a way they were.

“You see, big bad Uther has an heir to his big bad dictator throne, and it’s not Morgana. It was rumoured to be one of the Protectors, because that would make sense right, the son following in his father’s footsteps? Only no one’s ever heard of a Prot named Arthur. He’s either still too young to join, or Uther is keeping him in hiding, giving him some sort of special training that’ll make him even worse than Uther himself. Anyways, it’s kind of a play on words: The Son rises, the Dawn comes, and the Knights end.”

Arthur was flattered in a way. There was a whole prophecy surrounding him and he was feared by everyone in this city-beneath-the-city. But nobody knew who he was.

“So you’re saying that Uther finally brought his son out of hiding,” Arthur stated. It was weird talking about his father and himself like this, and Arthur had never had to act before, but he felt he was doing well considering.

“Yes,” Mordred confirmed. “He could be anyone. He is known for his blond hair but that could easily be dyed. No one has ever seen him so he could blend in and never be noticed. “

“I just can’t believe Uther is going to start patrolling my rooftops,” Merlin muttered to himself angrily. “The nerve of some people.”

Leon ignored Merlin and spoke to Arthur. “Merlin left out an important part of the prophecy. The end of the Knights is not necessarily a bad thing.”

“Hey, I like things the way they are,” Merlin interrupted but Leon ignored him again.

“Merlin likes to assume the worst in people so he didn’t bother bringing this up.”

“What is it?”

“The prophecy says nothing about the Son being bad, only that he was raised to bring an end to the Knights. Some believe that the Son will see the wrong his father has done and work to put a stop to it. That he’ll lead the Knights against his father, take his place, and rule Camelot the way it was meant to be, with justice and equality. If that happened, there would be no need for Knights anymore,” Leon explained.

“And that’s a really big ‘if,’” Merlin added. “Considering this guy has spent his whole life being bred for the explicit purpose of continuing Uther’s reign of terror.”

“Either way, we’re going to find the Son and kill him,” Percival spoke up from the corner. The certainty with which he said it made Arthur shudder.

“Hear, hear!” Merlin cheered.

“Is that true?” Arthur looked to Leon.

Leon met Arthur’s eyes forlornly. “We can’t put the fate of the city on one man’s shoulders. The prophecy has too many ‘if’s and there are hundreds of thousands of people’s lives on the line. It’s better that we deal with it this way.”

Arthur didn’t need to ask what “this way” was. They planned to kill him, probably Uther and Morgana as well, and run the city themselves.

Arthur hadn’t asked any more questions, because honestly he felt like he’d already asked too many. But now he regretted it.

As if he wasn’t confused enough. If what these sewer-people—as Arthur had started calling them—said was true, he had a decision to make. He could either betray his father or continue with his original mission. And what was so bad about the Camelot they lived in now? What had his father done to deserve so much hatred?

A voice in the back of Arthur’s head reminded him of the “nutritionally enhanced” food and how he’d known nothing about it. Had his father been breeding him in his image like Merlin said? Was Arthur never supposed to learn about any of this?

Before he decided anything, he had to get more information. If it wasn’t just the food situation, but more injustices as well…

Merlin guided him through the crowded passages, past makeshift homes, baked goods sellers, and jewellery stalls whose wares were no doubt stolen. They came to a hole-in-the-wall sort of place with three shady fellows huddled around the fire.

“Here.” Merlin turned and handed Arthur five gold coins. “Go buy some bread and wait for me there. I’ll be right over.”

Merlin looked around then started walking to the men around the fire. He looked over his shoulder and saw Arthur still watching him.

“Off with you,” he waved, and Arthur hurried off.

Merlin stuffed in hands in his pockets. “Evening,” he said, approaching the three of them.

“Merlin,” one greeted him. The other two simply nodded.

Merlin dug a coin purse out of his right pocket and handed it quickly to the man closest to him, who slipped it into his coat. The second man pulled out a small brown bag and threw it over the fire to Merlin, who caught it easily in one hand.

“You being followed?”

Merlin turned to look at the man he’d given his money to. “Huh?” He glanced over his shoulder. “You mean that bloke over there?”

Merlin saw Arthur across the market, peeking from behind a corner and clutching two loaves of bread to his chest. Merlin sighed and walked angrily over to where Arthur was spying.

“Thought I told you to wait by the bread, princess.” He grabbed Arthur roughly by the collar.

“Who are those men you’re talking to? Do they work for the Knights too?”

“Don’t worry about them. They’re friends of mine, alright?” Merlin threw a quick glance over his shoulder where the three men were watching with keen eyes. He waved a farewell to them and they nodded. “Let’s get started with your training.”

“Training?”

“Yeah, are you daft? Training.” Merlin held out his hand suddenly and opened it to reveal a single gold coin in his palm.

“That’s a coin.”

“Very observant of you. Where’d it come from?”

Arthur blinked. “Your pocket?”

“Wrong!” Merlin practically shrieked. Some people turned to stare at them, saw it was only Merlin, and went on their way.

“So where did it come from?” Arthur asked.

“Your pocket,” he said, grinning.

Arthur patted his trousers and sure enough they felt lighter. When he looked to Merlin again, the boy had four coins.

“How did you—”

“You took your eyes off me. When I shouted ‘wrong.’” Merlin slipped the coins back into Arthur’s pocket with deliberate slowness. “Really, you make it too easy.”

“Okay. So never take my eyes off the person I’m talking to in case they’re a sneaky bastard. That’s easy.”

“Wrong again, my friend. Look.” Merlin turned around and put his hands on his hips.

Apart from getting a nice view of Merlin’s backside, Arthur didn’t see the point of this.

“What am I looking at exactly?” he asked.

“My arse, obviously,” Merlin snickered.

“Stop being a knob and tell me straight.”

Merlin moved his hands to his back pockets, effectively cupping his plump cheeks. “These. You see these?” He looked over his shoulder at Arthur. “Zips. Someone wants to steal something from me, they’ve got to tug for it.”

“Alright. Zips, then. That it?”

Merlin sighed, exasperated. “No, that’s not it! Now we’re going to practise. Follow me.”

Arthur didn’t have much of a choice because Merlin pulled him by the wrist and took him in a seemingly random direction.

They entered the familiar white-washed corridors of the Castle through another entrance and Arthur was certain then that the place was in fact a labyrinth. Merlin navigated the hallways with ease until they were back near the main atrium. He turned and took the bread from Arthur, who was still holding it tightly to his chest.

“Listen, when we get back to the others, not a word about seeing those three guys, got it?”

Arthur nodded. They walked in silence for a while and Arthur felt his time for questions was running out as they neared the more crowded area.

“Who were they anyways?” he asked.

“Just friends,” Merlin said, not turning around.

“You pay your friends?”

“Some of them.”

“They must not be good friends then.”

“Good enough.”

More silence. Their footsteps echoed down the dim corridor.

“Merlin?”

“What, Arthur?”

Arthur hesitated but finally said, “You bought drugs from them, didn’t you?”

Merlin spun on his heels and pinned Arthur against the wall, letting the bread in his hands drop to the floor. He was surprisingly strong for someone so lanky.

“Alright, princess, since you’re new here, I’ll say it the nice way: What I do, what I buy, who I’m friends with—all that doesn’t concern you. Lance knows that, Percival knows that, and Mother knows that. Leon and Gaius can try all they want to stop me, but even they can’t do shit besides kick me out of the Castle and I’ll just come right back in anyways. So be a good little boy and turn a blind eye to all this, like the rest of them. Don’t pretend to care about pathetic old me, got it? I’m not worth the effort.”

He removed his hand from Arthur’s neck and Arthur’s feet met the floor again. He swayed from the dizziness, but straightened himself up and glared at Merlin hatefully. He caught Merlin by surprise when he forced him against the opposite wall and held his forearm across his neck.

“Stop calling me princess you fucking freak,” Arthur hissed into Merlin’s face. “Maybe you are pathetic, and maybe you’re not worth the effort, but I’m the one that has to sleep in the same room as you. I have a right to know if there’s a chance some nutjob druggie is going to slit my throat at night, don’t you think? Not everything is about you, Merlin.” He backed away from Merlin and stared at him, daring him to fight, offering up the challenge.

Merlin didn’t disappoint. He held Arthur against the wall again and they glared at each other, faces so close they were breathing mouthfuls of each other’s air.

Arthur’s head was reeling. A part of him couldn’t believe he’d just confronted the most dangerous Knight of them all alone in a corridor where nobody would miss his body. But another part of him loved the thrill and excitement. And now he was staring right into the eyes of the monster, eyes that were getting closer and closer...

And then they were kissing. It was forceful, and Merlin was clutching handfuls of his flesh so tightly it felt as if he might rip them away from the rest of him. Arthur gripped Merlin’s waist and let himself be consumed. He offered up his neck which Merlin nipped at hungrily. He didn’t know what he was doing. He should have been fighting Merlin, pushing him away, not pulling him closer. But instead he was letting Merlin have his wicked way with him because it felt like nothing he’d ever had before. It felt so good.

Arthur fought for control, but not to put a stop to things. He snatched Merlin’s wrists and pushed the boy roughly against the opposite wall a second time, wrapping his fingers tightly around his neck. Merlin let his arms hang limp at his sides as he gasped for breath.

Arthur smashed his lips into Merlin’s but didn’t loosen his grip. He banged Merlin’s head against the wall a couple times and Merlin let out a pathetic whimper, but his right leg came up and wrapped itself around Arthur’s waist, bringing their hips closer. He so clearly wanted it as much as Arthur did.

Arthur let go of Merlin’s neck in favour of cupping the pale face in his hands and he felt Merlin’s fingers start to work on his trousers. Merlin pushed their trousers down to their ankles and soon Arthur was rutting his freed erection into Merlin shamelessly, moaning at the new type of friction. Merlin jerked both of their leaking cocks in his hand while Arthur kissed every expanse of skin available above Merlin’s shirt.

Then Arthur’s tongue found a sensitive spot just behind Merlin’s ear and the scout came with a cry into his hand, but didn’t stop stroking the both of them. He quickened his pace and Arthur thrust forward into Merlin a final time before coming himself.

“Sweet mother of fuck, Arthur,” Merlin whispered, seemingly to himself, as they separated.

They gasped for breath while they examined themselves. Arthur had bruises all down the left side of his body and felt teeth marks when he touched his neck. Merlin’s throat was still sporting the impression made from Arthur’s fingers and he had a couple scratches on his arms.

The last few minutes caught up with Arthur’s brain. “What the fuck just happened?” He meant the question rhetorically but Merlin answered.

“We just did it, mate. And quite roughly I might add.”

Arthur looked up and saw Merlin grinning. “No I mean...is that usually how things go?”

Merlin’s grin became a smirk. “First time with a bloke?”

“First time with anyone.”

“Oh.” Merlin seemed surprised.

Arthur’s stomach plummeted as he realised the cameras in his eyes had caught the whole thing. Only Morgana had access to view whatever footage he got, and he was certain she’d be good about it and edit it out, but it was still mortifying to know his sister had just seen him do that.

Fretting over it wouldn’t change anything though. Arthur sighed and pulled his pants up from his ankles and began wiping himself with them. Merlin did the same, then turned them inside out and slipped them back on. He picked up the bread and they looked the area over before continuing on.

They didn’t say anything else nearly the rest of the way there, and Arthur was content to follow Merlin and let his thoughts wander and try to make sense of things. Arthur didn’t think this would change anything. Merlin would probably choose to go on as if nothing had happened, and Arthur was perfectly fine to do just that. But as they neared the lobby, Merlin stopped and turned to face Arthur.

Arthur’s brow furrowed at the sudden halt right near the end. Then Merlin leaned forward and kissed him softly, unlike the rough, dirty kisses from before, and Arthur realised that things had changed.

When Merlin pulled away, he opened his eyes and looked intently at Arthur. Then Arthur saw for himself what Percival had meant the day before. Merlin suddenly had a look that was unsettling, disturbing even. It was as though Arthur could see insanity taking hold in Merlin’s mind before his very eyes.

“I really like this next part of training,” the scout said with a toothy grin.

Then suddenly it was as if the moment in the corridor had never happened, as if Merlin had changed his mind in the span of a few minutes and wanted to forget kissing Arthur a second time. Arthur didn’t know what to make of it, but wouldn’t let himself dwell on it too much. He really, really should have been focusing on his mission.

Merlin became his usual cocky self and thrust the bread back into Arthur’s arms when they had a view of Elyan working on something at the table in the main atrium. He put a finger to his lips to indicate silence.

Arthur watched as Merlin approached the unsuspecting Elyan from behind, crouched in a low stance. The man was apparently tinkering with something and had his whole attention on it.

“HIYA ELYAN!” Merlin shouted and the mechanic jumped.

“Holy—! Merlin!” Elyan glared at the pale, lanky lad and shoved him away with a strong arm. “I’m working. Something you obviously have no concept of.”

“Bollocks. I’m working now.”

“Are you, then?” Elyan asked disinterestedly, looking back to his mechanical device.

“Yeah. Just demonstrating to Arthur the art of sneaking.”

Elyan glanced behind him and saw Arthur holding the bread. “Excellent job, Merlin. Didn’t even know he was here. Now put the bread away and sod off, I’ve got real work to do.”

Merlin huffed and slapped the top of Elyan’s head with a loud smack then disappeared into the rafters somewhere before the man could retaliate.

“Goddammit, Merlin!”

The only reply was high-pitched laughter from above. Arthur scanned the area above him hopelessly.

“Kitchen’s that way.” Elyan pointed to a door Arthur had only seen but never used before. “Gwen’s in there, she’ll take it.”

Arthur looked to the ceiling once more before realising that Merlin really had just abandoned him and went into the kitchen. Gwen was stirring a large pot of broth on a stove. She looked up when the door shut behind Arthur.

“Oh, you’re back. Thank you,” she said, taking the bread.

“Well, I’m here. I don’t know where Merlin disappeared off to.”

Gwen chuckled as she put the loaves away then returned to the pot. “Probably went outside. He gets restless after being underground for so long. He’s been better about it though, since we let him have the phone room.” She glanced at him. “Have you seen it yet?”

Arthur thought back to the chamber with painted walls and floors and the telephone box in the centre.

“Briefly, when I was looking for the loo last night. I got lost and ran into Merlin coming out of there.”

Gwen nodded. “Lance built the platforms and installed the paint pipes. The telephone has been there since before we lived here. Kind of a mystery to us all.”

That was interesting. Arthur would have to investigate the room in depth later, but for now his own curiosity was piqued.

“Paint pipes?” he repeated.

“Yes. There’s an area in the back with some handles that control the flow. All Merlin has to do is turn one, step in the paint that comes out, and start running.” She smiled fondly. “He quite likes it. He’s creative like that. The whole painting-with-feet thing was his idea. And you see how everything here is a stark white or grey. He needed the colour. It drove him nearly mad.”

She stopped suddenly, cut off by her own words. Merlin and madness was a delicate topic with her.

Arthur, though it was against everything he’d been trained for, was beginning to like Gwen. She really was like a mother to the group, being the only female, and Arthur had never had a mother in his own life. Morgana wasn’t a great example of feminine influence either. So Arthur felt for the woman. He swallowed and spoke as gently as he knew how.

“Merlin is certainly...special.” He tried not to bring up the image of Merlin with lust-blown eyes and red, swollen lips only a few minutes earlier. “I hope he’ll show me the place properly sometime. He seems like a very sad person, and I’d like to see what makes him truly smile.”

It was partly true, Arthur realised to his own horror, but most of it was feigned sympathy to get Gwen to tell him more.

“I think you’ll be good for him,” Gwen said. “He seems to like you.” Her eyes darted to Arthur’s neck and Arthur promptly brought his hand up to cover the bite marks. Gwen just chuckled.

 “Maybe,” Arthur said thickly. “I’m going to go wait for him in our room,” he said, anxious to get out of the conversation and his soiled pants. “If you need anything.”

Gwen waved and he left the kitchen. He walked past Elyan, who was still tinkering, to his shared room. Merlin was in there relaxing with his headphones on and his eyes closed.

Arthur looked down at his ring. “Sorry about that Morgana,” he whispered and twisted it.

He realised then that he didn’t have a change of clothes, having arrived with only the things he wore. He went over to the dresser on his side of the room anyway and opened the top drawer.

Arthur gasped. It was divided into two sections, the left stocked with pants and the right with socks. He closed it and moved down to the second drawer: shirts. Third: trousers.

“Huh,” he marvelled.

He pulled out a new outfit—the shirt he selected had a convenient collar—and stripped, then held the clothing up to his body. They seemed to be a decent size, even for his muscular build. Perhaps they were some of Leon’s old clothes.

Arthur had the shirt on and was just about to put his feet into the legs of the trousers when he felt a hot breath on the back of his neck. He froze then turned slowly. As expected, Merlin was behind him, staring like he wanted to lick him all over.

Maybe he did.

“I thought you were sleeping,” Arthur stammered.

Merlin remained silent.

Arthur could feel Merlin’s gaze on him, taking in his half nakedness. He could see the lust in the scout’s eyes. They hadn’t had a chance to fully appreciate each other’s bodies in their hasty hallway tumble.

Arthur tried not to notice the bulge in Merlin’s trousers and stepped back. He was not going to do this again. It would hinder his mission. He wouldn’t do it, no matter how badly he wanted to.

Merlin didn’t press him, and Arthur was almost sorry he didn’t. Part of him had expected Merlin to push forward and bring their bodies together again.

Arthur continued to dress, zipping up the trousers with difficulty due to his erection. Merlin watched, sucking his bottom lip as he no doubt held himself back. When Arthur was fully dressed, they simply stood staring at each other for a few moments.

Finally, Merlin’s face broke out into that broad smile of his that made him look mental. “Now that’s how you sneak up on someone,” he said triumphantly.

Arthur laughed nervously. “Yeah, heh, you’re pretty skilled at that.”

“The best.” Merlin pounded his chest once with a fist, then spun around and went to his swinging bar.

“You’ll want to get some more sleep. We’re going out again tonight,” he explained, hanging upside down.

“Where are we going?”

“Upstairs. Some people to meet, Leon says. It being Dawn and all.”

Arthur sat on his bed and cracked his knuckles with apparent boredom, making sure to twist his ring.

“Will it be dangerous?” he inquired.

Merlin snorted. “With the increased patrols? Definitely. Why? You scared?”

“Not at all.”

“You ever get in a fight before?” Merlin asked sceptically.

“It might have escaped your notice Merlin, but I’m bigger and much stronger than a twig like you.” Arthur folded his arms across his broad chest.

But Merlin just laughed and hopped down from his swing. “Ha! Alright then, fight me.”

“Now?”

Not nearly enough time had passed since the incident for Arthur’s erection to go down. And it was not fun fighting with a hard-on.

Merlin must have been thinking the same thing. “Before dinner. We’ll see who the better man is.” He turned to leave. “Now get some rest. Seriously.”

“Where are you going?”

“My room.”

“You mean the place with all the colours?”

Merlin’s lips twitched in a slight smile. “Yeah.”

“Can I see it?”

“Someday. Not today. Go to sleep.” Then Merlin hit the button to open the door and was gone.

Arthur waited a few minutes. He didn’t have to do what Merlin said, and he had some options. He could find Gaius and see what he was about, he could go talk to the other Knights, or—and this is what he really wanted to do—he could follow Merlin.

What would his father have him do? Arthur wasn’t assigned to get information on Merlin, he was meant to get intel on what the Knights were planning. No doubt there would be some of that happening tonight, but for now he had to act. Going to Gaius seemed the best course of action.

Merlin wasn’t in the mood for running today, which was rare. Instead he just wanted to lie about, stoned out of his mind, and push back the wall of intruding thoughts. Having to babysit the new bloke was a distraction, but a tiring one.

When he got to the phone room he went straight to the tallest platform and sat down, then pulled the brown bag out of his front pocket.

Inside was a smaller clear container that was filled with the glorious herb Merlin had come to love over the past seven years. He opened it and the sweet smell wafted up into his nose. He inhaled deeply a few minutes, just enjoying the scent and letting it fill him. He closed his eyes and it was as if this aroma was his whole world.

After quite enough of that, he reached down and pulled his bowl out of his deepest pocket. He put the ground buds in until it was packed tightly, then placed wet lips around the mouthpiece, sparked the flame with a bit of magic, and inhaled deeply.

The longer he took the smoke into his mouth the more light-headed he became. It was as if his head was a fishbowl and he could just see it clouding up with smoke. When he exhaled through pursed lips and saw the white cloud, he knew he’d had a good hit. The weed was still burning and he brought the mouthpiece to his lips so he could take another hit while it was still aflame.

Merlin let his head fall back against the wall. He could already feel everything bad slipping away to the edges of his consciousness, where he wouldn’t be troubled by it. After another four deep hits, he was flying and truly gone.

“When the mens are in their shops, they look around and fear me,” he sang with a drawl. “When I lift they try to stop but the Prots they can’t get near me. When all is bad and sad and low and there’s no way to get by, I say ‘hullo Gwaine!’ and slip him change, and get all fucking high.”

Merlin giggled with glee at his rhyme and fell over onto his

side. He felt himself

 fall over and over

again, as if time had

slowed down the movement, though he could feel the solid wood beneath him firmly. He was so detached from his body. So detached from

everything

“What’s good then, Merlin old chap?” he said in the most posh voice he could muster. “How’ve ye been these past few days?

“Why, I’ve been excellent, Mr Emrys, thankye for asking. Just before this new bloke turned up I had quite the run-in with these two Prots that thought it’d be a bit of fun to beat this one girl, about ten she was, so I stepped right up behind them and pulled their feet from under ‘em, I did. Caught them by surprise, I did, I did!

“^Ha_HA^ha_HA^ha_HA! Excellent, my dear boy, excellent! What did you do then? Tell me you clawed their beady little eyes out.

“I did, I did! Just one of them. And just one eye, before the other Protty bastard pulled me offa him. Took care of him though. Twisted his arm and he howled in pain. It was GLORious, simply magNIFicent!”

Merlin grew tired of the voice game and sighed, then rolled over onto his back. Again, part of him seemed to continue rolling though he lay still. He closed his eyes and let himself float.

It was nice, being numb. He could think about anything and it wouldn’t hurt, not as much as it would have if he’d been sober.

Like the ten year old girl the Prots had been beating, or the time he saw a man his age try to climb an electric fence and die, or the July Riot, or even his own lonely childhood before he’d joined the Knights at nearly sixteen.

Yeah. Thoughts like that. Stupid, conniving little thoughts snaking their way into his brain through the cracks in the wall he’d built to hold them out. They didn’t stand a chance against the smoke in his fishbowl of a mind. Let them wander around and get lost in the mist.

Merlin began humming the song that he always played on his headphones, marvelling at how the sound coming from his throat vibrated all through his skull. The human body was really a wonder. Especially his.

Ever since he was little he’d been able to do things. With a snap of his finger he could trip someone up, a wave of his hand would lift an object across the room, a simple thought could start a fire. And, as he’d discovered seven years ago, he could do all the drugs he wanted, and his body could magically clean it out of his system.

That wasn’t to say he couldn’t get addicted or heal himself of other wounds. When he’d gotten shot once in the shoulder, he still had to get stitches and it took weeks to recover. But it’s not like he would die from withdrawal and it took a considerable amount to get him hooked. His magic could always buy him a little more time before he was able to get high again.

Merlin sat up quickly—though it felt as though it took forever—and picked up his bowl. There was still some green visible on a couple of buds. After inhaling that, he would go back to his chambers, take his own advice and get some rest. He’d hardly slept at all in the past twenty-four hours.

Gaius looked up when the door to his secluded chamber slid open.

“Arthur,” he said. “I was wondering when I might see you again. Come in.”

Arthur walked in, scanning the room for both himself and Morgana back at the tower. Books lined the walls and there were even piles of them on the floor and on the desk the old man was sitting at. A high cot came out of the wall on the right and blankets were neatly folded over it.

“You have books,” Arthur stated. “Real books.”

Gaius smiled proudly and nodded. “I do. Have you ever seen one?”

Arthur shook his head. “Can I?” He knelt down beside the nearest pile of books when Gaius gave his assent.

There were five in this short stack. Arthur looked at the titles and covers briefly, trying to figure what they were about based on the design on the front. Middlesex, Flatland, A Clockwork Orange, The Stranger, and House of Leaves. He’d never heard of any of these before.

“Is this where the old saying comes from?” Arthur asked. “‘Don’t judge a book by its cover?’ It’s from back when books actually had covers, and weren’t electronic.”

“Indeed.”

Arthur opened the top one, The Stranger. He furrowed his brow.

“Maman is the mother right?” He asked Gaius, who was watching him with an amused expression.

“That’s right.”

“So why can’t he—or she—remember which day she died?”

“That’s just how the main character is,” Gaius replied.

“That’s weird.”

“Some books are weird. Merlin enjoys weird books. That’s his collection.”

Arthur regarded the stack with a new eye. Merlin enjoyed weird books? Even more importantly, Merlin enjoyed reading? That certainly wasn’t in his file.

Arthur paged through the book in his hand and stopped when he thought he smelled something. He brought his nose to the page and inhaled deeply.

“It smells nice,” he said in awe.

Gaius laughed. “That’s a good sign. Not everyone can appreciate the smell of a good book.”

Arthur mouth tilted in not exactly a frown as he sniffed the page again.

“Would you like to read one?” Gaius asked.

Arthur’s heart suddenly skipped before he even realised that yes, he did very much want to read one. “Yes, please.”

Gaius brought a wrinkled finger to his chin. “Hmm. Let me think.” He stood and walked around, considering. Finally, he said, “Aha!” and plucked a book from one of the built-in wall shelves.

Arthur looked at the cover. The Dice Man.

“What’s this about?”

“It’s about a man that decides one day to live his life according to a pair of dice. He assigns a possible course of action to a number and whatever he rolls is the action he’ll take.”

“But there’s an infinite amount of possible choices.”

“You’ll see when you read it.”

Arthur looked sceptically at the cover again as he took the book. “Alright.”

“But you didn’t come here for a book, did you?” Gaius asked knowingly.

Arthur swallowed. “No. I guess I came for information. What exactly do you all do here? And what will I be doing? I don’t know much about the Knights, just what I’ve heard from hushed conversations in the alleys, but I know you all are against the Protectors.”

Gaius sat back down at his desk and leaned back in his chair thoughtfully. “Why exactly did you join, Arthur?”

Arthur recalled every detail he’d been told to say should he be asked this. “I lost my job about a month ago and was evicted soon after. I lived in an alley a few weeks and got tormented by the same people that had sworn to protect me before I’d fallen on hard times. I heard different people say different things about the Knights: complain about the them and how they were making everyone’s life harder, some wanting to join but knowing they’d never pass the trial...After one Prot nearly choked me to death I decided I wanted to do something to get back at them.”

“So you’re here for revenge?”

“I’m here for justice. I was an upstanding citizen just a short while ago. Why I should stop being one just because I couldn’t pay my bills is unfair. What happened to me shouldn’t happen to anyone.”

Arthur had practised this speech in his head a hundred times. He’d been told just as many times that things of that sort never happened, that nobody really was treated differently if they suddenly found themselves unable to get by. Morgana told him of the shelters and temporary homes that existed for just such people.

“I see. Well, Arthur, to be honest, it’s Leon you’ll want to speak to. We’ve a two-part plan and he’s in charge of part one. My part doesn’t come in until Uther is no longer in control.”

“Then that’s the real goal? To take down Uther?” Arthur made his eyes go wide with feigned excitement.

“Yes. Once that’s done, we’ll lay the foundation for a better government. Or at least modify this one. That’s my part: the planning and the taking over. It’s my job to ensure that there is a smooth exchange of power from Protectors to Knights, and that the new government we create is satisfactory for all.”

“And my part in all this?”

“As I said, you’ll be wanting to speak with Leon. I’m not sure what he’s going to have you do. But we all bring a special skill to the team. Perhaps he means to find yours and use it to our advantage.”

“What’s Gwen’s?” Arthur slapped his hand over his mouth but couldn’t take the words back. He hadn’t meant to sound sexist.

Gaius laughed though. “She holds this place together, believe me. She does more than cook and clean, I assure you. I’m able to heal physical injury, but there’s nothing like a woman’s care to soothe emotional pain. Gwen is understanding and patient. She’s a bit like our resident psychologist,” he added with a strange smile.

“Yeah, she is very...concerned about people. Especially Merlin.” Why did things always come back to Merlin? Arthur could never seem to have a single conversation in this place that didn’t somehow bring up the odd boy.

“Ah, yes. Merlin. He is certainly special.”

The way Gaius said it sounded different from the way the others said it. Almost like he knew something they didn’t.

“How do you mean? To me he just seems weird.”

The old man’s eyes became guarded and his smile faltered. “He’s different is what I mean to say. Unique.” He folded his arms over his desk. “Now, will that be all?”

Arthur nodded and turned to leave. He pressed the button to open the door and was about to step out when Gaius called his name. He turned.

“I trust you’ll take good care of that book.”

“Of course, sir,” Arthur replied. He went back to his room.

It was taking Merlin forever to get to his room. Though he was walking with the longest stride possible, it still felt as though he were only stepping forward centimetre by centimetre. His eyes saw clearly that he was stretching his legs out in front of him to ridiculous lengths, but his mind refused to believe he was making any progress towards his goal. It was honestly a surprise when he finally reached his chamber door.

What was even more surprising was the fact that Arthur was still awake. Merlin hadn’t counted on that. And what was more, he was reading a book. A book.

“Gaius.”

Arthur looked up from where he had his head buried deep in the novel. “That’s right, Merlin,” he said as if Merlin were eight years old. “I went to see Gaius.”

“Shuddup. ‘M not stupid.”

“Just high. Again.”

Merlin stuck his tongue out and walked into the room. Arthur immediately burst out laughing.

“What the hell have you done to your shoes?” he asked.

Merlin frowned and looked down. “My feet got sweaty. I didn’t feel like...wha’s the word for it? In my hands. Bringing them back in my hands. D’you know?”

“You didn’t feel like carrying them?” Arthur clarified, laughing again.

“Tha’s right! Caring for ‘em. So I tied the laces round my feet. Jus’ drag ‘em ‘long behind me.”

He tried to sit on the edge of his bed but misjudged the distance and ended up falling on his arse. Arthur couldn’t help but laugh and Merlin got upset.

“Quit laughing at me!” Arthur kept laughing. The sound bounced around the inside of his skull and a flare of anger brought Merlin to his feet. He stumbled forward, swaying as he did so. “I said stop with the laughing!”

“I can’t. You’re too funny.”

Merlin stood, huffing furiously. It wasn’t just Arthur, or his laugh that teleported Merlin to a darker time. It was his smile. His teeth were blindingly bright, and the way his lips stretched to reveal them was gorgeous. The crinkles at his eyes and around his mouth made him beautiful. Merlin loved that smile but he hated being laughed at. He couldn’t stand being laughed at. It reminded him too much of before. He wanted Arthur to smile but didn’t want Arthur to laugh at him and he didn’t know what to do so he started crying.

That shut Arthur up. Arthur looked on with wide-eyed shock, but stayed frozen to his spot on the bed, and Merlin just stood there crying and staring at Arthur through his tears. Arthur not smiling made him feel not good and Arthur laughing at him made him feel not good. If only he could give Arthur another reason to smile.

He wiped his eyes furiously and fell back on his arse with a purposeful thud. Arthur just watched him with wide eyes. Merlin kicked his leg up and his shoe hit him on the head when it dangled from his ankle but Arthur still said nothing. Merlin started slapping the floor repeatedly until his palms were red but Arthur’s lips didn’t even twitch.

“Smile!” he yelled. Arthur’s brow furrowed in confusion. Merlin just wanted the brightness back in Arthur’s face. Arthur had no reason to look that way. Arthur wasn’t troubled by bad memories and voices. Arthur was attractive and charismatic and brilliant.

Merlin tried a new tactic. He got on his knees and went to the edge of Arthur’s bed, pleading with his eyes. “Please, Arthur,” he begged. “Please smile for me. Please please please. I’ll do anything.”

Arthur scooted away until his back was against the wall. He looked afraid.

“Arthur!” Merlin fought back tears. He didn’t want to scare him. Everybody was frightened of him, even Mother. Why couldn’t Arthur just joke with him like he had before, as if Merlin was normal?

Merlin began to crawl onto Arthur’s bed. “Merlin, what are you—”

“I’ll suck your cock. Would you like that? Would that make you smile?”

Merlin took Arthur’s hesitation to mean yes.

“Merlin!” Arthur tried to move sideways, no longer able to move backwards, to get further away from him, but Merlin followed the movement.

“Please, Arthur. Just once, at least. Just smile, like before!”

“What the hell is wrong with you? A minute ago you were begging me to stop. What’s gotten into you?”

Merlin sank back onto his calves, giving up. “I don’t know!” he cried, throwing up his arms. “I don’t fucking know!”

Gwen came in then, much to Arthur’s relief. She ran immediately to Merlin, pulled him gently away and sat him down on his own bed where she could hold him tight in her arms. It was strange to see Merlin, who was so much taller than her, be cradled like a small child.

“Shh, Merlin, it’s okay. It’s alright,” she said softly, stroking his mop of black hair.

“No, it’s not. I’m fucked, Mother, I’m fucked.”

“No you’re not, sweetheart. You’re fine. You’re just a bit upset.”

She held him, rocked him back and forth awhile, until he finally calmed down.

“Where’s your sleep?” she asked him.

Merlin pointed to his dresser and fell into the warm spot she left when she got up.

“I’ll be back with some water, alright Merlin?” Gwen said at the door. “I’ll be right back.”

“Mmhmm,” Merlin groaned and closed his eyes.

Arthur watched Merlin’s body rise and fall with his breathing until Gwen came back in with a glass of water. She went to Merlin’s dresser and got a small white pill from a clear plastic bag.

“Here you go, love, there,” she said as Merlin put the pill in his mouth and drank it down.

Gwen took the glass from him and set it on the floor, and Merlin returned his head to her shoulder.

“Thank you, Mother,” he mumbled.

“Just rest now, Merlin,” she said, stroking his hair again.

It wasn’t long before Merlin was deep asleep and Gwen lay him down on the bed. She untied the laces from around his ankles and pulled the thin blanket up over him, tucking him in like a true mother would. Then she stood and went to sit by Arthur, who’d been watching curiously the whole time.

She sighed before she spoke. “I heard the shouting and came as quick as I could. Wanna tell me what happened?”

Arthur swallowed. “I’m honestly not sure. He came in here, high as a kite, then fell over and when I laughed he got all upset. Told me to quit. Then when I did, he kept telling me to smile. Just begging me to smile. I don’t understand it.”

“Did he say why?”

“No.”

“Well. Merlin’s mind is a mystery even when he’s not doped up. This is just another unsolved one, I guess.”

“I guess.”

“Dinner will be in a few hours,” she said, getting up. “I’ll see you then.”

When she left Arthur felt a tugging at his heart. He’d never had a mother, or anyone to take care of him with such affection. He had no idea what he’d been missing before, but if what Gwen had done was what all mothers did, he wanted that more than he had wanted anything before.

Arthur shook his head, trying to get rid of such thoughts. He was here on a mission. Gwen was one of the Knights. He couldn’t start developing feelings for any of these traitors.

As soon as Merlin started muttering in his sleep again, Arthur twisted his ring, cutting the feed back to the tower. He was only reading anyways.

Arthur had never gotten lost in a book before. But then, he’d never read for entertainment before either. He’d only ever had to read manuals and tomes of protocols during his training to be a Protector, and those had all been electronic. It was a completely different experience physically holding a book and turning the pages.

So when Gwen came in again to wake up Merlin for dinner, Arthur was surprised by how much time had passed. He twisted his ring while she bent over to shake him and sat up to put his shoes on.

“Same thing tonight?” Arthur asked conversationally.

“Yes. But there will be bread too.” She smiled and Arthur felt something odd. Something like warmth, but he couldn’t exactly name it.

Merlin awoke slowly, unlike the night before when he’d jerked awake with a scream. He opened his eyes and groaned.

“Lemme sleep.”

“There’s dinner to be had and work to be done, Merlin,” Gwen replied, pulling the blanket off the scout.

“Nooooo,” he complained. “Doooooon’t.”

“Come on, Merlin. Up up up.”

“Ugh.” Merlin managed to get himself upright and rubbed his eyes with his fists. “What time is it?”

Gwen consulted her watch. “It’s just past seven. You have to be somewhere by eight, so you’d better hurry up.” She walked back to the door, turning back before leaving. “Arthur, make sure he doesn’t get back into bed.”

Arthur smirked at the glaring Merlin and easily dodged the shoe Merlin threw at him.

“Well, I hope you got some sleep as well because it’s going to be a long night,” Merlin said, voice still hoarse. He seemed back to his normal, cocky self.

“How so?”

“Things to see, people to do.” Merlin said airily, with a wave of his hand as he stood. “Wait. Reverse that. Or don’t. Whatever.”

He walked over to Arthur’s side of the room and Arthur was about to ask what the hell he was doing when Merlin leaned over and reached behind him. Arthur froze and his heart started pounding from the proximity.

Oh, that’s right. His shoe.

Merlin plucked it off the bed and returned to his side to put them on. When that was done he and Arthur walked to the door and left.

It was a relatively normal walk to the main atrium until Merlin decided he was too hot and took his shirt off. It didn’t help that Arthur was walking behind him.

Merlin really was hot. Temperature-wise of course. There was sweat dripping down his back, which Arthur noticed was actually quite nicely muscled. The lack of sleeves allowed him a better view of his triceps as well. His gaze followed the curve of Merlin’s spine to his waist. The top of his pants were visible just above his trousers, and Arthur recognised them as the same from before. Which meant that Merlin was still walking around in his come-stained pants from that morning.

The fact should not have turned Arthur on.

“It’s freezing outside, Merlin,” Gwen remarked when they entered and sat at the table.

“But it’s hot in here. I’ll put something on before we leave, promise,” Merlin replied, taking a stew-filled bowl from the centre. “Plus, you know I always sweat when I take my sleep.”

Arthur grabbed his own bowl and a chunk of bread. The rest of the Knights were already eating. Even Gaius had come out of his chambers to dine with them tonight.

They ate in silence for a while, with the occasional rude burp from Merlin, until the scout put down his spoon and slurped the rest of the broth into his mouth.

“Elyan going with us?” he asked Leon.

“I don’t know,” the leader replied. “Do you think you should go, El?”

Elyan pondered a moment. “I don’t think it will be necessary. You should all be fine with just the headsets and I’ll let you know if any Prots get close.”

Merlin snorted and leaned back in his chair so that the two legs were off the floor. “That’s my job.”

“Fine. Then I’ll tell you if there’s any talk on the Prot radio. Though this shouldn’t be too risky of a meeting, if what Leon’s told me is true.”

Leon nodded. “Crowded pub, limited surveillance, completely harmless. The Prots could hardly take us in for going out for drinks.”

“But they could arrest you for all the other things you’ve done. Merlin especially,” Lance interjected.

Merlin grinned smugly and put his hands behind his head. “What can I say, I’m a man of many talents.”

“Right. Name one thing other than running and being fucking insane.”

Gwen slapped his arm—a seemingly common thing in their relationship—and Gaius gave Merlin a look. Arthur managed to catch it, flicking his gaze between the old man and the eccentric scout. Merlin seemed to tilt his chin forward just a bit.

“That’s easy,” Merlin said, putting the front two chair legs back on the floor. “I give great head.”

Arthur almost choked on his stew and everyone at the table—except, of course, Gaius—laughed.

“What?” Merlin raised his palms in a display of innocence. “It’s true. Just ask Leon.”

All eyes turned to Leon, who had turned deep red.

“Merlin, I was sleeping. That was practically rape,” the large man defended himself.

“Still made you come, though. Pretty quickly if I remember correctly.” Merlin was positively beaming with smugness now.

Lance came to Leon’s rescue. “I meant a useful talent, Merlin. Unless you plan on taking Uther down with the blowjob of a lifetime, I don’t think that’s very helpful.”

Elyan, Lance, Percival, and Leon laughed but Gaius and Gwen frowned. Merlin’s face looked about how Arthur felt at hearing “Uther” and “blowjob” in the same sentence.

“That’s just disgusting, even for me,” Merlin remarked.

“Alright, we’ve taken long enough,” Leon said. “We’ve got to go or we’ll be late. Elyan.”

Elyan skidded three headsets across the table to Leon, Merlin, and Arthur.

“Just us three?” Arthur asked as he adjusted the device over his ear.

There was an awkward exchange of glances and Merlin leaned in to whisper in Arthur’s ear.

“Lance’s got a club foot.”

Arthur blushed, embarrassed. That must have been why his file mentioned him rarely leaving. Arthur’s eyes went immediately to the man.

“I-I’m sorry,” he stuttered. “I had no idea.”

Lance just shrugged. “It’s alright. You’ve only seen me sitting anyways.”

“Come on, guys. We really ought to head out,” Leon reminded them.

Merlin tugged Arthur by the arm when he didn’t move fast enough and they went down the corridor on the opposite side of the lobby, away from Merlin and Arthur’s room.

Arthur’s confusion must have shown on his face because Merlin looked over and said, “Never ever use the front door.”

Leon slowed his pace until they were all walking side by side, Merlin in the middle. The leader pulled out a slim, silver electronic pad and pressed a button to bring up a holographic map of the city.

“This is where we’re going.” He pointed to the yellow marker among the three dimensional buildings.

Merlin studied the map for a few seconds. “Got it,” he said and ran ahead. Pretty soon he turned left and it was just Arthur and Leon in the hallway.

“What will I be doing?”

Leon put away his device. “You’ll be around in case the man we’re meeting tries to pull anything.”

“Like a bodyguard? I thought that was Percival’s job.”

“The trouble with Perce is, you can’t bring him everywhere. If he came along, it would be too obvious something was going on. Like Merlin, he’s immediately associated with us. You’re big and look like you can handle it, but not so muscular that you draw attention.”

Arthur bit back the proud smile threatening to form. He’d told Merlin he could fight.

“But hopefully we won’t have any problems,” Leon finished.

The two of them turned left where Merlin had turned and Arthur nodded. “Okay.”

“Have you ever taken the Tube?”

“The what?”

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“What’s the Tube?”

“It’s an underground train system. Kind of outdated nowadays, but it still runs.”

“An underground train? People still use trains?” Arthur had only seen pictures of trains in old books; big, metal boxcars that puffed steam out of the top. And they actually touched the ground.

“Just those of us that live underground. Not many people upstairs know about it. But you’ll see.”

When Merlin reached the door that led outside, he pulled his shirt out of his trousers and put it on. It was certainly chilly outside. October was welcoming autumn with open arms.

He opened the door and stepped into the dark alley. The flickering flames of the fires people huddled around made shadows dance almost maliciously across the gaunt faces of the alley dwellers. Merlin looked around for a familiar box and pushed past the shivering figures when he found it.

“Hello hello,” he sing-songed.

A man Merlin’s age poked his head out, brown hair ruffled from sleep. He had a wide, friendly face spattered with freckles and was one of Merlin’s first city acquaintances. “Merlin. What brings you to this part of the city?”

“Knight business. You have any of what I got last time?” he asked, getting right to the point.

“Maybe.”

Merlin checked each of his pockets until he found his coin purse. He counted twenty and offered it to his friend, but the brown mop of hair shook. “More.”

Merlin huffed. “How much more?”

“Thirty.”

“Fifty?! Are you fucking with me, Will? How long have we been friends, mate?”

Will shushed him. “Not so loud, huh? This is actually a safe living arrangement for once.”

“I’m not paying fifty gold.”

“Then you’re not getting any. Sorry, mate, times are hard.”

“Look, just—Ugh. I’ll be back later tonight.”

“If you say so. I’ll still be here.”

Merlin made his way further back into the alley neighbourhood until he got to a pipe he could climb up. He got up to the roof easily and tried to remember the marker on the map Leon had shown him. His memory was still a little fuzzy from being so high earlier but he thought he knew the place.

He broke into a sprint and leaped from rooftop to rooftop, rolling when the landing would have been rough on his ankles. He sometimes went out of his way to wallrun or triangle jump, but he knew this was no time for playing. This was a time for speed.

Merlin vaulted over low obstacles, skidded under air vents, and climbed up whatever walls got in his way, getting farther and farther away from street level. He loved feeling his heart pumping in his chest, got a thrill from the excitement of using the top of the city as his personal playground. It was brilliant. It was really fucking brilliant and Merlin felt he could run forever if his body would let him.

Merlin was just nearing the appointed location when he saw the first glimpse of red on the top of the building to his left. He crouched behind an extension of the roof and peered out at the uniformed officer.

The Prot was holding a laser rifle and pacing around the square edge of the building. Just seeing him walk like he owned part of Merlin’s private area was enough to make Merlin’s body tremble with rage. His hands yearned for a throat to wrap fingers around.

Merlin decided he’d have a bit of fun before he finished the last leg of his short journey. He twitched his little finger and the light the guard was passing went out. The Prot raised his rifle and looked through the scope in the wrong direction while Merlin silently made his way across the street to the protected building.

The red had resumed his patrol when he saw that it was probably just a faulty bulb, and was now about to walk past where Merlin was hanging by his fingers off the side of the roof. Right after the guard had his back to him, Merlin pulled himself up and caught the man by surprise from behind.

He had crouched and swung his leg out so that the Prot lost his footing and fell backwards. Merlin quickly straddled him and disarmed him, throwing the laser rifle thirty feet away, then began beating his face in. Merlin’s knuckles were covered in blood from the man’s nose and lip. He managed to nick the skin on his middle knuckle from punching in the Prot’s teeth too hard. Too late the officer realised what was happening, and he grabbed Merlin’s thin wrists and pushed the boy away.

“Shit,” the Prot suddenly swore. “You’re the mad one. Merlin.” He started shuffling backwards in the direction of his rifle.

Merlin gave his most wicked grin and rose from a crouch with feline grace. The officer reached for his radio to call for backup but Merlin was quicker. He leaped forward and twisted the arm so his hand dropped the small device. It shattered when it hit the stone.

“This is between me and you,” Merlin growled, adrenaline pumping from the excitement of battle.

Merlin brought the man down with a sudden roundhouse kick to the skull, this time pinning his arms with his legs and started pounding his head into the stone repeatedly. The guard’s eyes were going blank when Merlin got up and stepped back. He didn’t want to kill the Prot, just send a warning.

“Stay off my roof,” he spat, kicking the Protector in the side with deep satisfaction. “All of you.”

He wiped his bloodied hands on the Prot’s jacket then ran off and didn’t stop again until he reached the top of the bar they were to meet at. The building was low, squished between two taller structures. As a second thought, Merlin climbed back up to one of those where he’d have a better view.

He switched his mic on. “In position.”

“Good,” Leon’s voice came through the earpiece. “We’re almost there. Leaving the Tube now. Any reds?”

Merlin scanned the crowded street below but saw no shady van or suspicious loiterers. “All clear.” As if on cue, a helicopter passed silently over his head and he pressed his body flat against the roof. “Shit.”

“What’s up?”

“Nothing. I’ll take care of it.”

There was a pause, then a long drawn out sigh. “What have you done now?”

“Nothing!”

“Yeah, well ‘nothing’ better not get in the way of our mission. We need this, Merlin.”

That’s when Elyan joined the conversation. “I’m seeing a helicopter in the area, making its way a few streets over from the meet location.”

“Goddammit, Merlin,” Leon sighed again. “I don’t care how you handle it, but do it before we get there. If our man even suspects Prot activity, he’s out.”

“Got it.”

Merlin switched his mic off. He coiled his magic inward and focused with his entire mind, then slowly pushed it outward.

Another Merlin now stood beside him, just as solid but not nearly as smart. In fact, the clone had only one instruction in its simple mind: lead the helicopter as far away as possible. When the aircraft eventually gave up the search, Merlin would pull his magic back in and the clone would disappear into thin air.

The Other Merlin ran off in the direction of the Prot search party while the original stayed behind. He was on high alert now, and regretting his earlier decision to confront the trespassing officer. But the bastard had been on his rooftop, and he’d be damned if he hadn’t done something about it.

His plan was working. The helicopter had landed near the beaten Prot’s body and the guards that jumped out were now pursuing the fleeing Merlin over the city. When Leon and Arthur arrived, the Other Merlin had led them nearly to the edge of Camelot.

“I see you now,” Merlin commented as he looked down and saw the pair of them approach the entrance. “Arthur, turn your mic on.”

There was a soft click as Arthur did.

“Did you take care of the situation?” Leon asked.

Elyan answered for him. “No Prots in the area. You’re good.”

“Do you have a visual?”

There was the sound of keys being pressed as Elyan typed away on his keyboard.

“I’m in. Our man is sitting at a booth in the back. On your left when you walk in.”

Arthur spoke for the first time. “You hacked into their security cameras?”

“You make it sound so difficult,” Elyan said with an amused snort. “It’s a low budget pub, not the Prot tower. Though that is a task I’m quite looking forward to.”

“Alright, we’re going in,” Leon announced. “Are you ready, Arthur?”

Arthur must have nodded because there was no response on the headset.

“Alright,” Leon repeated. “Let’s do this.”

It wasn’t Arthur’s first time in a bar, but it was his first time in one of such low standards. It was smelly, the people were loud and obscene, and the whole place was just generally dirty. Arthur hoped they wouldn’t be in there for long.

They made their way casually to the back where their contact was sitting—how Elyan knew who to look for was a mystery to Arthur—and sat down across from him, Arthur on the outside.

The man had his hood up, and when he lifted his face they saw the only his eyes were visible, the lower part of his face being hidden under a scarf.

“Who’s this?”

There was a short moment of silence after their contact had spoken. Because that was the voice of a woman, not a man.

“Th-this is Arthur. He’s taking the place of Percival tonight,” Leon explained, stuttering only once after the initial surprise, for which Arthur silently commended him.

The shrouded woman nodded in understanding. “He would have attracted attention. It’s pleasing to know you lot are capable of making some wise decisions.”

Leon’s fists clenched beneath the table but he kept his face passive.

“Mordred’s been compromised,” the woman said. “They found evidence of his treachery and now he’s in prison. They’re probably going to kill him. Morgana is still deciding.”

Arthur burned to ask “How do you know?” but he kept himself in check. He was here as a silent bodyguard and nothing else. He went back to scanning the pub casually.

“We have to get him out.”

“We have to do no such thing,” she disagreed. “Mordred knew the risks when he offered his services. He assured us he was the best and it was his own fault for getting caught. We are not going to risk everything just for him. If he dies, he dies.”

Arthur thought this woman was certainly cruel, more so than the familial Knights. But then, the Protectors were just as bad.

“Okay. What about Dawn? Is there any talk of where the Son might be?”

Arthur’s eyes glanced in the lady’s direction at the same time hers moved to his. He quickly looked away. Leon didn’t notice the exchange but Arthur’s heart pulsed quickly.

“Some. By now he will have almost certainly dyed his hair and taken up residence somewhere in Lower Camelot, perhaps presenting himself as a beggar or bartender. Others believe that his appearance means nothing at all, that his training has simply ended and he’s become a full Protector, ready to patrol like any normal red.”

“And the increased patrols?”

“Not just increased: improved. A special section has been created within the Protectors, so secret only a select few know about it. The people in that force aren’t even called Protectors, they’re called Infiltrators. Some of them are women.”

“Women?” Leon echoed, disbelieving. Arthur was taken off guard as well. “Uther would never allow a woman to be in a position of such rank. Morgana’s only allowed because—”

“New methods, new rules,” the woman shrugged. “He’s trying to use tactics that take us by surprise.”

“This is troubling news.” Leon ran a rough hand over his tired face. “So what about these Infiltrators? What do they do?”

“Exactly what it sounds like they do. Put simply: they’re spies. Just as some people think the Son is doing, they pretend to be normal Lower Camelot or alley dwellers. They walk amongst us, gathering information, writing down names of people they believe will someday rise against the Protectors and making them disappear before that can happen.”

“How do we combat this?”

“We can’t. We can simply trust no one.”

Leon sat back in his seat and sighed. “Okay. Is there anything else we should know?”

“There is one thing.” She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small, grey, metal cube with a single word etched into it: SNAP. “My employer insists that you give this to Merlin. It’s supposedly very important.”

“To Merlin?” Both Arthur and Leon asked in unison. On the headset, Merlin howled in laughter.

“Yes,” she replied, disapproval evident in her tone and the set of her eyebrows. “He believes that the boy will play an important role in the coming weeks. I’m guessing this is a gift, or a sign of encouragement of some sort.”

Leon raised a sceptical eyebrow. “Merlin? Our Merlin? Has he not heard the stories about him?”

Merlin protested. “Hey, don’t doubt my skills. I told you I have talents!” Leon ignored the voice in his ear, instead listening to the woman.

“He has. Yet he still holds unwavering faith in the boy. Maybe one day we will all understand. Maybe Merlin will save us all.”

Arthur couldn’t help but snort. “Doubtful.”

“I’m in agreement with you.”

Leon leaned forward. “Am I allowed to ask who your employer is?”

“He’s the one that calls. The one that only speaks to Merlin.”

“Him?! You’ve seen him?”

She shook her head. “No. Nobody has seen him. But he says that one day, all the Knights will. He plans especially to aid Gaius when the time comes.”

“This is a lot to think on. Thank you...what’s your name?”

“I will not tell you my real name, but like my employer I have an alias. You may call me Nimueh.”

“Thank you, Nimueh.”

Nimueh looked directly at Arthur and motioned for him to hold his hand out. She placed the cube in his upturned palm. “I trust you will get this safely to the Mad Scout.”

Arthur wanted to ask “Why me?” but again held his tongue. There was something in her deep gaze that both frightened and mesmerised him.

He simply nodded and he and Leon stood to go. When he looked over his shoulder as they were about to step back out into the chilly October night, Nimueh was gone.

Merlin followed Leon and Arthur as they walked back to the nearest hidden Tube entrance, shadowing them from above. Halfway through their meeting with Nimueh he’d released the hold on his clone and was now back at full magical capacity.

“Arthur, you’ll be staying out a while later with Merlin for more training. I’m going back to the Castle to talk this news over with the others,” Leon said. “You’ve already relayed the information, right Elyan?”

“Sure have,” the techie replied over the headset. “Everyone’s up to speed. Just waiting to plan our next move.”

“Good. Merlin, where do you want Arthur to meet you?”

“Corner of Westminster and Pemberley,” Merlin said.

“That’s a bit of a walk,” Leon remarked disapprovingly.

“He’s been fine on his own out here for a month. He can walk.”

It wasn’t true, but Arthur wasn’t going to say anything. If he couldn’t defend himself against crazy drug addicts or insistent whores, he really had no right to call himself a Protector-in-training.

“Fine with me,” Arthur said.

“How much longer do I have to babysit you two?”

“Go on ahead, Merlin,” Leon waved, knowing the scout could see him.

Merlin switched off his mic and ran ahead. He had some serious pickpocketing to do if he wanted to make fifty gold before Arthur met him at Westminster.

Merlin was late. It had only been five minutes, but considering it took fifteen to get here, and Merlin had had a head start, the fact was disconcerting. Arthur really hoped he wasn’t buying drugs again or causing any more of his father’s helicopters to come by.

A girl of about thirteen or fourteen came up to Arthur and stood next to him. Arthur gave her a questioning glance. She tapped her ear before saying anything and Arthur got the hint. He checked that the mic was muted and took off his headset.

“Morgana says not to worry about what happened this morning and that they’re looking into the pub woman now. Also you’re doing a good job.”

The girl ran away before Arthur could ask her anything and he was left to stare open-mouthed after her. Then he felt a tug on his other sleeve and jumped when he saw Merlin.

“You took your headset off,” the scout said.

“Oh, yeah. It was bothering my ear,” Arthur lied quickly. “Just about to switch it to the other one.” He placed it on the opposite ear as before. “So what will you be training me in tonight?”

Merlin smiled broadly, that twinkle of madness present in his eyes again. “Remember what I said earlier today? Well, we never did get to fight before dinner. I’ll show you how fighting is really done.”

“Oh, you’re kidding me. Alright then, name the place. I’m ready when you are.” Arthur replied, grinning like he’d already won.

“Not so fast. Where’s this gift from Kil—the phone man?”

Arthur reached into his pocket—which had zips, all of his new trousers had zips—and handed it over to Merlin, who looked at it curiously. When he saw the word carved into the metal, his eyes widened.

“You know what it means?”

Merlin’s only response was to whisper, “He knows.” Then he chuckled bitterly. “But then, he knows everything, doesn’t he?”

“The man that talks to you?”

Merlin’s eyes lost their distracted, far away look and he shoved the cube into a pocket halfway down his leg. “Don’t worry about it, mate. What you should be worried about is the arse kicking you’re about to get.”

Arthur saw the deflection for what it was but didn’t trouble himself about it. He’d find out sooner or later, he was sure.

“You still haven’t named a place yet.”

Merlin pointed upwards. “Top of this building. I’ll even be nice and take the lift up with you.”

Arthur scowled. “How kind.”

“Well, it’s been a long night, for some more than others,” Arthur said, stretching as they left the Tube and entered one of the Castle’s numerous corridors. “Unless you want a rematch, we should probably head straight to sleep.”

Merlin bumped into Arthur purposefully, knocking him into the wall of the hallway. “You cheated. You can’t pin someone’s arms down like that. That’s so cheating!” Merlin didn’t mention the fact that he’d done the same thing to a Prot only that same night.

“A fight’s a fight, Merlin. Doesn’t matter how, I still won. Don’t be a sore loser.” Arthur smiled.

Merlin grumbled but inwardly grinned. “So I underestimated you a bit. Big deal.”

They walked in silence until they reached their shared room. Merlin didn’t enter, just kept walking.

“You go on to sleep,” he waved back at Arthur. “I’m going to stay up a while.”

Arthur frowned but didn’t follow. He went into the room and resolved to wait a few minutes before going to check things out. He was almost certain Merlin was going to the phone room.

And Merlin did. He triangle jumped onto a relatively low platform and sat cross-legged, turning the smooth metal cube in his hands. Then, as the engraving instructed, he snapped his fingers and the cube folded open.

The holographic image of a dragon appeared and spoke in Kilgharrah’s voice. “Hello Merlin. You may be wondering why I’ve chosen to contact you this way. I’ve told you time and again that the phone in that room is untraceable, and that remains true, as it always will. I put it there myself and no one knows how to operate its complex machinery but me. Even your highly skilled Elyan would be baffled by such designs.

“The reason is this: Only you can access this message. With a snap of your fingers, you can open and close this cube as many times as you wish. The instructions I’m going to give you are of the utmost importance, and I don’t want you to forget them. I know you have a tendency to…indulge in certain activities, and may need a reminder every now and then.”

Merlin snorted. Of course Kilgharrah would send him a replayable message just because he got high a little too often.

The image continued. “If this falls into the wrong hands, they won’t be able to do a thing with it but smash it to pieces in frustration. You are special.

“You and you alone can bring about the end of the Knights, the true and rightful end. You must get close to Arthur, become his most trusted friend, and make him see the correct way. Right now, he is a danger to you all.

“Arthur is the Son.”

Merlin gaped. Arthur? The Son? Merlin had kissed—oh gods, more than kissed—the bloody Son?!

Right. Priorities. Arthur—the Son—was in the Knights. That sneaky, conniving, two-faced, bastard!

But the dragon went on. “The prophecy is true. He will either help drag the city into ruin or lead the Knights to usurp his father. As of this moment, he wears contact lenses with hidden cameras and his ring functions as a microphone that controls what he records. The footage goes straight to Morgana, who watches in her office.

“But Arthur can be swayed. He has already felt the beginnings of affection for you and the Knights. Befriend him, Merlin. Bring him to our side, persuade him of our cause, convince him to turn against his father and all the evil he stands for. Arthur can and will be the great leader that he was born to be, and you will help bring about a new, peaceful era.

“The fate of Camelot and her people rests on your shoulders.”

The hologram faded and the cube folded itself back together. This...this was a lot to take in. Arthur was the Son, (would he ever get over that?) and had been spying on them for two days now. Morgana had seen everything Arthur had seen, had heard all Arthur had heard, and now Kilgharrah wanted Merlin to get all buddy-buddy with him. Right. That made perfect sense.

What he should do is just go kill the traitor in his sleep right now. But just thinking about that made Merlin feel sick to his stomach. Even though his every instinct was telling him to beat the spy to a pulp, he had a frustrating urge to hold him instead.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

Merlin didn’t want to think about anything right now. It hurt too much right now. He took the bag of heroin out of his pocket and his pipe bowl out of another. He magically refashioned it into a clear glass pipe then paused. He probably wouldn’t want to be too high off the ground for this.

Merlin relocated himself so he was leaning against the platform he was previously on and prepared to smoke. He created a magic flame under the glass until smoke appeared, then brought the pipe to his lips and inhaled deeply.

It didn’t take too long for the high to creep its way in and soon Merlin felt himself floating closer and closer to the unpainted ceiling, whether literally or metaphorically, he couldn’t tell. Tendrils of his magic seeped through his skin but he found himself not caring in his euphoric state. This was his private room. Nobody came in here uninvited.

Merlin closed his eyes and let the numbness take over. Pretty soon would come the rush, and then the nodding off, and all the painful things he’d had to think about would be nonexistent for a few hours.

Then he heard his name being called. Again. And again. He wished whoever it was would give up and go away. There was a kick in his side, but he barely felt it. He was disconnected from his body.

“Merlin!” The voice shouted at him, right in his face. “Merlin, it’s Arthur. Can you hear me? Merlin!”

“Fmmff,” Merlin mumbled in an attempt to say “Fuck off.”

Arthur groaned. “Dammit, Merlin.”

Arthur wanted to smash the glass pipe beside the slumped scout, and dump whatever the light brown powder was down the drain. Instead he twisted his ring and settled down to sleep next to Merlin. He’d just have to wait until the stupid druggie woke up.