Chapter 1

Hi guys, I love the TV show Merlin so I decided to write a Merlin fic. I'm still working on my other ones too though. This is an alternate universe of Merlin, set in our time. I hope you enjoy it.

Backstory: Tony and Hunith were in a relationship, and Merlin is their son. They had gotten married before Merlin was born, and were happy together but after realising they didn't love each other anymore, got divorced when Merlin was twelve. Though Tony and Hunith aren't together anymore, they remained friends and looked after Merlin together. When Merlin was a baby, Hunith and Tony discovered he has magic, and have done everything in their power to keep this a secret. But when Merlin was five, Cenred and Morgause found out about his magic. And they tried to kidnap Merlin, but were unsuccessful. Tony and Hunith sent Merlin to different places around the world to close friends to keep him safe. As well as protecting Merlin from Cenred and Morgause, Tony and Hunith have had to protect him from Tony's enemies.

When Merlin was fourteen, they sent him to a boarding school in London called Camelot, and asked Gaius to keep an eye on him. Merlin has managed to stay in London for three years and became best friends with Arthur during his time at Camelot. Both Merlin and Arthur are seventeen in this fic. Tony and Pepper were in a relationship for a few years, but broke up because Pepper couldn't stand worrying about whether Tony would come back alive. Tony has been with Steve since the battle with Loki, and have been together for a year. Tony has kept Merlin a secret, from the Avengers and Shield because he was afraid of what Shield would do to Merlin. So Tony is the only Avenger that knows about Merlin.

"Why do you always have to be such a clotpole?" Merlin said irritably to Arthur.

"Why do you always have to be such an idiot?" Arthur retorted.

Merlin and Arthur were in the middle of one of their clotpole/idiot arguments. These arguments happened so often, that the two became famous in their school. The staff and students, even their headmaster Uther Pendragon, found the arguments hilarious. Merlin was about to argue back, when his phone rang. Merlin checked the caller ID and saw that it was his dad.

"Hey dad, what's-

"Merlin, they've found you. You have to get out of school now", Tony said urgently.

Merlin froze, this couldn't be happening. He and his parents had done so much so that Merlin would be safe, and he had managed to have a normal life for the past three years and now that was falling apart. He didn't even register that he had assured his father that he would run, and had put his phone back in his pocket.

Seeing the all the colour drain out of Merlin's face, sent a wave of concern over Arthur. Merlin seemed to be frozen in shock, Arthur tried shouting his name but Merlin didn't answer. Arthur had to shake Merlin, to get him back to reality. "Merlin, what's wrong?" Arthur asked every trace of his earlier annoyance out of his question.

"They found me?" Merlin whispered.

"What, who found you?"

"There's no time to explain. I need to go now", Merlin said and took off running down the hall.

Arthur ran after Merlin feeling a mix of, confusion, concern and anger. Someone had clearly made Merlin very scared, and Arthur wanted to make who-ever that person was pay. When Arthur had caught up to Merlin, he grabbed his arm to stop him from running. Arthur had been so focused on not losing Merlin that he hadn't noticed until now that they were outside in the school grounds. "Merlin, please tell me what's going on".

"I can't!" Merlin said sounding both panicked and apologetic.

Arthur was about to protest, when gun shots rang out causing himself and Merlin to jump in fright, and for students and teachers to scream and run. Arthur immediately pulled Merlin close to him, and tried to shield him with his body, "My car is in the car park, come on!" Arthur and Merlin ran to Arthur's car as fast as they could.

Merlin secretly used his magic to stop the bullets aimed at them, hitting them. Merlin could see that some of the agents were running after Merlin and Arthur while others had realised what Merlin and Arthur's plan was and ran to their cars. Thankfully he and Arthur reached Arthur's car before the agents reached theirs. Arthur drove while Merlin sat in the passenger's seat, Arthur successfully drove the car out of the car park. Merlin's dad had texted him a secret location, that he would pick them up from and Merlin had told Arthur the location. They managed to lose the agents, but Merlin knew it wouldn't be long before they caught up to them.

"Seriously Merlin! What is going on? You owe me an explanation. I mean we were shot at, we could have been killed!"

Merlin sighed, "There may be some things you don't know about me".

"No kidding", Arthur said irritably.

Merlin rolled his eyes, "Listen the things I'm about to tell you, will be hard to believe and I need you to keep them a secret".

"Don't worry, your secrets are safe with me".

"Thanks, the first thing is that Tony Stark is my father".

Arthur stared at him in shock, "Tony Stark, as in Iron Man?"

"Yep, that's the one".

"Merlin, why would you keep that a secret from me? We have been best friends for years".

Merlin sighed again, "Being the son of Tony Stark is very dangerous, even before he became an Avenger I was always in danger. My dad has made a lot of enemies in his life, and they have and will continue to use me against them. My dad, has-"

"Wait, what do you mean they used you against your dad?" Arthur asked with a sinking feeling.

Merlin shifted uneasily in his seat, he hadn't want to tell Arthur about this because he knew how protective Arthur was of him. And would probably get in trouble, trying to get revenge for Merlin. But Merlin knew from past experience, that Arthur wouldn't let this go so in the end he told him about how his dad's enemies had kidnapped him many times. And that there were a few times he had even been tortured. Arthur looked livid by the time Merlin had finished explaining.

"I'm going to make them pay", Arthur said angrily.

"No Arthur, please they are dangerous people".

"But-"

"Arthur, promise me you won't do anything stupid".

Arthur sighed, "Fine I promise, I'll try not to do anything stupid".

"That's the best you can give me right?"

"Right", Arthur confirmed.

Merlin shook his head, though Arthur's protective nature had gotten himself into a lot of trouble and though Merlin pretended to find it annoying he secretly loved it and it was one of the things that had actually made Merlin fall in love with Arthur. Arthur didn't know it, but Merlin had been in love with him for years. When they had first met, Merlin would have never guessed that he would fall in love with Arthur. He was very mean, rude and pompous. But over time Arthur had shown a different side to him, a caring side. Many said that Merlin had brought out this side of Arthur. Merlin didn't know if that was true, but he liked to believe it was. And by the end of that year, Merlin was completely in love with Arthur.

Merlin had told his dad about his feelings for Arthur, (he had already told his father that he was bisexual the year before), and knowing what Arthur was like was very worried. He was worried that Arthur would end up breaking Merlin's heart, either by never knowing Merlin's love for him or if they got together, that he would hurt Merlin in some way. Merlin had tried to assure Tony that Arthur would never hurt him, but was unable to convince him. Tony already kept an eye on Merlin when he was at school with the help of Jarvis and Gaius, but ever since Merlin told Tony about his feelings for Arthur he tripled his efforts in keeping an eye on Merlin.

"The second thing is-" Merlin started to tell Arthur about his magic, but gun shots interrupted him, "Arthur step on it!" Merlin shouted while keeping his head down. Merlin was confused as to why they were shooting at them, Merlin had thought they wanted to capture him, not kill him. Maybe they were trying to kill Arthur, so that he would be unprotected. That thought terrified Merlin, he would not let Arthur be killed because of him. Merlin turned around and shot his hand out in the direction in the agents' cars.

"Merlin, what are you doing?" Arthur asked in confusion, "You need to keep your head down!"

Merlin ignored Arthur, part of him was terrified about Arthur seeing him use magic. But Merlin knew he had no choice. Merlin's eye glowed a molten gold, and the agent's car that was directly behind them stopped, causing the cars behind it to crash into it, Merlin had made sure no-one would be killed in the crash but the crash had caused a big traffic jam. Which gave him and Arthur time to lose the agents.

"How did you do that?" Arthur asked in shock. Arthur had thought he knew everything about Merlin, they had been best friends for three years, Arthur even hoped that they could be more than best friends.

Arthur had gradually fallen for Merlin during the first year they met, Arthur's father was headmaster of the school and very rich. Everyone knew this and those who were his friends, only were because of his money and treated him differently because of his money. Merlin was the first person to treat him as a normal person, something he had found infuriating at first. But over time he became grateful for it, because of Merlin he had gained friends that actually cared about him. Arthur had even had a meaningful relationship with Gwen, though Arthur had ended it when he realised he was in love with Merlin. He and Gwen were still friends as it had been a mutual break up, she had fallen for Lancelot. So Arthur had thought Merlin had told him everything, but apparently that was not the case.

Merlin gave Arthur an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, I had to keep this a secret. Because if the wrong person had found out, my life would be over".

"And I was the wrong person?" Arthur asked feeling hurt.

Merlin's eyes widened, "No, no, it's just that my dad is very protective of me. He made me promise to tell no-one, not even you".

This made Arthur feel better, though he still wished that Merlin had told him, "So what is this big secret? How were you able to stop that car?"

Merlin took a deep breath and said, "Magic".

Arthur gaped at him, then realised that he was driving and put his eyes back on the road, "You can't be serious?"

"How else could I have stopped the car?" Merlin pointed out.

Arthur opened and closed his mouth a few times, but couldn't think of a good argument, "Wow, you really have magic?"

"I really do, I can understand if you never want to see me again, I just-"

"Hold, on. Why wouldn't I want to see you again?"

Merlin gave Arthur a surprised look, "I have been keeping two huge secrets for years, you aren't mad at me?"

Arthur sighed, "I was at first, but you had very good reasons. I would have done the same thing".

"Really, so we're still friends?" Merlin asked with an expression so hopeful, that it made Arthur's heart ache. Merlin had really thought Arthur would want nothing to do with him, if he discovered his secrets. No wonder Merlin hadn't told him.

"Of course we are", Arthur said.

A truly happy smile appeared on Merlin's face, and Arthur really wanted to lean in and kiss him. But he couldn't because he was worried about how Merlin would react, and he was driving.

"That means so much to me, thank you Arthur", Merlin said.

"No problem", Arthur said, "And I meant what I said, your secrets are safe with me". To Arthur's delight, Merlin's smile grew even wider. They were nearly at the location now, and during the journey there Merlin had explained that, he had been born with magic and it wasn't just that he could use magic. Merlin was magic. This made him extremely powerful, which is why his dad had kept him a secret from everyone, as if Shield found out they would take him away and treat him as a lab rat. Even The Avengers didn't know about Merlin. He also told Arthur about how his mother and Tony got divorced when he was twelve, but they were still friends and looked after him together and enlisted Gaius to protect him at school. Merlin explained that the people who had been chasing them, were a secret criminal organisation called Essetir, which was run by Cenred and sometimes Morgause.

"Why sometimes?" Arthur asked in confusion.

"Cenred and Morgause have an on and off again relationship, they refuse to work together if they aren't together Merlin said.

"Oh I see, how do you know so much about them?"

"I was captured by them once when I was ten, thankfully my dad rescued me before they could do any experiments on me. And I have been on the run from them ever since. Three years is the longest I have ever stayed in one place-"

"You were only ten?" Arthur asked sounding appalled.

"These are ruthless people Arthur, which is another reason why I didn't tell you about all this. I didn't want you to be in this sort of situation".

"Merlin, even if keeping you safe means being in dangerous situations, I will still protect you".

"But Arthur, you said it yourself. You could have been killed".

"I know but-" Arthur cut himself off, he was about to tell Merlin that he loved him. That he would do anything for him, because Arthur didn't want Merlin to be hurt, any more than he had been already.

"But what?"

Arthur wasn't sure how to answer without giving himself away, so he was very glad that they had arrived. They were in front of a local park, and a plane was already waiting for them. The plane had started to attract attention, unfortunately there wasn't anywhere the plane could land in secret. Merlin and Arthur quickly got out of the car, someone that Arthur recognised as Tony Stark was waiting for them.

Merlin hugged his dad tightly, he hadn't seen him in a while and missed him.

"Hey Merls, you aren't hurt are you?" Tony asked when he released Merlin.

"I asked you to stop calling me that, it's bad enough that Gwaine calls me that now I have to hear it from you".

Tony laughed, "Sorry Merls, come on we need to go now", Tony said and started to lead Merlin up the ramp.

"Wait, Arthur needs to come with us?" Merlin said.

"What why?" Tony said irritably.

"Dad, I had to use magic to save us. And Arthur was nearly killed saving me, I had to tell him everything. They saw Arthur, they could go after him to get to me. Arthur needs to come with us" Merlin said, during the journey Merlin and Arthur had discussed this and agreed that it would be too dangerous for Arthur to stay in London.

Tony sighed, "Okay, you can come with us, let's go".

Merlin smiled apologetically at Arthur, but he gave him an understanding smile back. Merlin had explained how protective his dad was with him, and Arthur didn't blame his dad. Arthur was overprotective of Merlin too. Arthur followed Merlin and Tony up the ramp and into the plane.