A/N- This fic was beta'd by my friend 213serendipity, who was kind enough to be my sounding board, partly because she has some awesome ideas and partly because Mrs. Hudson took my skull. Britpicked by desuke-dragonqueen (on tumblr)
Chapter 1: First Impressions
Merlin Emrys looked at the imposing figure of Camelot Medical Centre with growing apprehension. His mother became the volunteer coordinator at the establishment recently, so when it came time to earn service hours for his CV, his mother managed to get him a position at the hospital. He had somehow managed to snag a position helping old Mr. Gaius in the hospital gift shop. He took a minute to inspect his appearance in the mirror, straightened the collar of his frankly alarmingly bright red volunteer shirt and stepped through the automatic doors. The lobby was sparkling, its white walls and shining floors creating an impression of sterility and efficiency. He walked to the front desk, and filled out the sign in book. Then he turned to the slightly flustered lady behind the desk and said
"Excuse me, but can you point me in the direction of the gift shop?"
The woman looked up from the computer screen and said "Oh, are you the new volunteer? The gift shop is right down the hall. Will you be needing a meal pass? It allows you to buy an entrée, two sides and a drink. Coffee and Tea of course are free. The canteen is down the same hallway, make the first left and walk through the door on the right." She said this all rather quickly.
"Um, I suppose so" said Merlin slightly reeling from the sudden surge of information.
"Here you go dear" she said, handing him the brightly colored slip of paper. "Just write the number down next to your name."
Merlin smiled and did as he was told, then he headed off in the direction the woman pointed, and ran right into a tall, broad shouldered young man holding a wheelchair.
"Lance!" exclaimed Merlin.
Lancelot Dulac (Lance for short) was Merlin's best friend. The two of them had grown up together, and had gone to school together, so when Merlin got the application for Camelot Med, it was only natural that Lance did too.
"Watch where you're going Emrys" teased Lance good-naturedly.
"Oh shut up" replied Merlin, grinning
"How was the maths competition, wonder-boy?" asked Lance It was no secret that Merlin was a mathematical genius, and could do a multitude of complex equations in no time at all. He was the star of the Albion SecondarySchool maths team, and was often away on competitions. It was because of his last competition that Lance started volunteering a week before Merlin could.
"It was great, I got in first place"
"As if you would do any less. I hope you crushed those gits from Mercia?"
"Of course! They didn't stand a chance" replied Merlin "So what department are you in?" he asked
"Transport." Lance said, gesturing to the wheelchair "And some of the other guys are up there too."
"Really? Who else volunteers here?"
"Well, there's that kid, Elyan Thompson, and Percy and Gwaine, of course" said Lance counting the names on his fingers.
"Of course" said Merlin with a grin.
Gwaine was the reason they had even thought of volunteering in Camelot Med. He had come into class loudly stating that he had found the easiest way to earn his service hours, and apparently that meant working at the hospital. And where Gwaine went, so did Percival, the two being as inseparable as Merlin and Lance.
"You'd better get going, Mer" said Lance "You wouldn't want to be late on your first day"
Merlin nodded in agreement and set off down the hall with a parting wave. He poked his head into the gift shop, taking in all the items crammed into the store, from sweets and fizzy drinksto stuffed animals to sleepwear. There was no sign of Mr. Gaius.
"Hello?" he called out
"In the back," came a voice from the depths of the store.
Merlin crossed the tiny shop, into an even smaller back room. At the other end of the claustrophobic space, standing on the step stool, attempting to stack magazines on one of the shelves, was a rather old man with shoulder length silver hair.
"Um… excuse me, but are you Mr. Gaius?" asked Merlin
"Hm? Oh, yes, that would be me." said the old man absently.
"Yes, um, I'm the new shop volunteer, Merlin Emrys."
"Emrys? Hunith's boy?" asked Gaius turning around on the step stool.
In that instant, Gaius lost his balance, and began to topple over. Merlin panicked and did the first thing he could think of; he slowed down time. Merlin never knew how he managed to do magic, only that it happened when he was nervous, panicky, angry, or felt any other strong emotion. Nobody outside the family knew, his mum made sure of it. Well Lance knew, of course, but he was around so often that he hardly counted as an outsider. Merlin rushed to Gaius' side and steadied him before he could hit the ground.
Gaius looked and him in wonder and asked,
"My dear boy, how on earth did you manage that?"
"Manage what?" said Merlin, trying to act innocent.
Gaius stared at him "Why, managed to catch me of course!"
"I'm stronger than I look." said Merlin deliberately misunderstanding.
"Don't play dumb with me, boy. I saw you standing at the door before I fell. There is no possible way you could have reached me before I hit the ground"
Merlin sighed "I have, well I'm not sure what you'd call it really. I think the best word for it is magic."
"Magic?" asked Gaius raising an incredulous eyebrow
"I know it sounds far-fetched, but there doesn't seem to be another explanation."
Gaius stared him down and finally said "Well it was no accident that your mother sent you to me, Merlin. I happen to have friends who have 'magic'"
"What? Really?" asked Merlin. All his life he had thought that he was just some evolutionary oddity, a freak of nature.
"I worked with a few trusted friends at my old university, interviewing and studying others who were born with your… abilities. Don't worry, my boy, I will keep your secret. In fact, I may be able to offer you some help in honing your skills. Now Hunith tells me that you have an affinity for numbers, let's put you to work, shall we?"
Merlin blinked at the abrupt change of subject, and was ushered out of the backroom so quickly that he was unable to voice his questions; mainly "You can help me understand my abilities?"
Gaius put him in front of the till and said "Let's see what you can do. Supposing a customer comes in and buys a box of Maltesers, a bottle of Pepsi, a stuffed dog and a vase of orchids, what would he pay?"
Merlin looked at the prices for the various items. He thought for a bit and said "The total price would come to £32.28." he said, having added the numbers in less than a minute.
Giaus beamed and said "Oh, you will do fine here. Now, I need you to make a delivery, just this vase of flowers. It will need to be delivered to a Mr. Eric Donovan in room 231-A. The lift is right at the end of the corridor. Make sure he signs for them. Now run along." He handed Merlin a vase of flowers, a receipt, and a pen and practically shoved him out the door.
Merlin made it to the lift without a problem, but once he was on the second floor, he realized that he had absolutely no idea where he was going. He tried to follow the signs but they lead him down a maze of seemingly endless corridors. Just as he was about to give it up for a lost cause, He caught a glimpse of a Camelot Volunteer shirt. Coming out of some sort of storage cupboard was a tall, athletic blonde boy. Merlin had to admit that he was gorgeous, which is probably why, in his attempt to get to the other boy, Merlin tripped over his own feet and landed unceremoniously on the hospital floor. It was a stroke of luck (and maybe a little something extra) that the vase of flowers didn't spill or shatter. The blonde boy looked down at him in disdain, not even attempting to help him up. Merlin pushed himself to his feet blushing and said "Hey mate-"
"I'm sorry, have we met?" asked the boy in a polished, private school accent.
"What? No." said Merlin
"Then why did you call me 'mate'? I am not your 'mate'." Replied the boy (Arthur, according to his name tag) with a sneer
"My mistake." said Merlin frostily
"Is there an actual reason you're standing in the middle of the corridor like a lump?" asked Arthur
"I was just wondering if you could point me in the direction of room 231-A" asked Merlin, refusing to be deterred from his quest.
The boy- no Arthur- smirked. "It's down the hall, take your first left and keep going, then make a right."
"Thanks" said Merlin, glad to be rid of the blonde. He may have the physique of an Adonis, but he was an absolute arse.
Merlin followed Arthur's instructions, but found himself even more hopelessly lost. Eventually, he ended up in a dead end corridor. He was standing there, confused, when a nurse happened to find him.
"Excuse me, can you tell me where room 231-A is?" he asked
"First day?" asked the nurse "Don't worry, everyone gets lost in the beginning." She smiled at him kindly "Unfortunately, you're in the wrong part of the hospital. Make your way back to the nurse's station and take the third corridor to the left. It will be the second door on the left."
"Thank you" said Merlin with relief.
Following the nurse's directions, Merlin found the right room at last. He presented an ecstatic Mr. Donovan with the flowers, acquired his signature, and made it back to the lift with no further mishaps. However, Merlin was going to have to watch out for that Arthur bloke. Gorgeous or not, if he saw him again, his magic might have something to say about the wild goose chase Arthur led him on.