AN: This contains cussing, and adult content! Do not read it if this is not something you would like to read.

I do not cuss, but I have been at the receiving end on many occasions, plus I watch Game of Thrones… So, all you read in here is written by a non-curser.

I was seriously ticked off when I wrote this, so things may not make complete sense. I do not have a Beta for any of my stories, so if you find errors, and I am sure there are several, just let me know where they are and I will go back and fix them.

~~An insight to the real Merlin~~

"Out of my way you fucking bastard."

Merlin tensed and Gwaine's eyes widened.

"What did you just call my friend?" Gwaine's voice was thick with anger.

"You heard me. The boy is nothing but the outcome of a pleasureless fuck between a cur of a bitch and bloody coward. That's what he is and that's what I call him." The man had had just enough drinks to recognize who Merlin was, but not Gwaine.

Gwaine's anger was released as he slammed his fist into the semi-drunk man's face. The man didn't go down, but returned the blow with a tankard to the side of the knight's head. Watching Gwaine crumple, Merlin snapped.

"You can insult me all you want, but NEVER hurt my friends." Merlin's voice was murderous.

"What is a worthless piss like you gonna do about it?" the man asked with a smug smile.

"Oh, you have no idea. I have been trained by Arthur Pendragon for the past eight years. Before that, I fought worthless scum like you daily. And while I may have been born a bastard, at least my parents had planned on marrying. Unlike your parents. Your father was cock-sucking piece of shit that fucked his way through every whore house in in three kingdoms before fathering you." The man's eyes were nearly falling out of their sockets they were so wide.

"I was with your mother when she died in Gaius's chamber. She told me how he had raped her as he told her of all his conquests. He died in a pool of his own piss, blood, and vomit. Your mother laughed when she told me how she watched as her brother slit the man she lothed's throat." Merlin then smiled a horrifyingly evil grin.

"As for my father, he left my mother to protect her. He had a fire in his soul, and when he died, that fire was passed to me. And believe me, you do not want to see me when I am pissed off. I have killed dozens of men over the years and I have trained with Gaius for just as long as I have have with the King. I can make your injuries look like an accident. So when I say don't hurt my friends, you had better fucking listen."

With that said, Merlin reached down and pulled Gwaine up and over his shoulder and walked out of the tavern with the unconscious knight draped over his back. As soon as Merlin exited, he saw the stunned face of Sir Leon.

"I guess you heard all of that…" Leon was shocked to hear how meak Merlin sounded after hearing him cut that man to the quick.

Leon swallowed and nodded. Merlin sighed.

"Please don't tell Arthur. I am already going to get a lecture from Gaius, I really don't want to explain everything I said in there to Arthur…"

Leon just stared dumbly at Merlin. Merlin, who they all claimed was weak and helpless, was carrying Gwaine's weight as if it was nothing. He doubted that Merlin had lied about anything in the tavern, and that shook the head knight the most. Merlin had killed? More than once? Suddenly, thing started to make a lot more sense.

Leon had wondered why all the assassination attempts on Arthur and Uther had dwindled over the years. And the fact that Merlin never really seriously got hurt during their adventures, just cemented the idea in blonde's mind. Now Leon was glad that Merlin was on their side and so incredibly loyal to Arthur, because if half of what Merlin had said in there was true, he could kill them all and no one would have known it was him.

"Leon. I suggest you close your mouth and help me get Gwaine to his chamber before he wakes up. I would rather tell Arthur about all of this than let Sir Talk-a-lot here know what happened."

That seemed to snap Leon back to the present. Leon lead the way and they soon reached the knights' wing. After checking Gwaine's head, Merlin deemed the knight fine, but claimed the man would have a hell of a headache the next day. He then chuckled and joked that this would be nothing new for the drunkard.

The next day during training, Leon watched as Arthur pummeled Merlin endlessly with with a mace and then a sword. Usually, Leon would be angry at the royal for beating a servant instead of training with a knight, but now that he knew about Merlin's secret he saw the fight in a whole new light. Where he had previously seen clumsy swings, he now saw carefully calculated moves that, if used offensively, would rival that of Gwaine.

After the training was over, Leon requested to borrow Merlin for a while, Arthur relented and told Merlin he would expect his lunch on time for a change before heading inside to change for the council meeting at midmorning.

As soon as Arthur was out of sight, Leon turned to Merlin. "I want to see."

Merlin knew exactly what Leon meant, and smiled a sinister grin. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

During the first fight, Merlin stayed on the defencive, dragging it out for nearly twenty minute before Leon called time. The second round lasted less than a minute as Merlin went on the offensive using moves that Leon recognized from fighting Gwaine, Morgana, and Essetirian soldiers, there were also some moves that Leon had never seen before. Leon also admired Merlin's seamless footwork, Merlin seemed to almost dance. But in the end, Leon ended up swordless on the ground with Merlin's sword at his chest and his own at his neck.

Merlin stepped back, grinning. He shoved the tips of both swords into the ground before leaning forward and offering a hand to Leon. As Merlin pulled him up, they both heard someone clapping, turning, they both saw the queen smiling and clapping at the edge of the training ground.

"I think I found my new sparring partner. Arthur refuses to allow me to train with the knights, but since Merlin seems to know just as much as any of them, I think I can talk Arthur into lending him to me during training sessions so that I can practice as well. And don't worry Merlin, there is no way I am telling him how good you are. I need a few secrets to hold over his head." Her smile was radiant.

Bowing deeply, Merlin replied, "It would be my honor, my lady"

Leon then watched as the two burst into a bout of giggling.

At that moment, Leon realized something. Merlin was not a different person than the one he already knew, he was just more complex and deep than he had previously thought. He watched as the two friends laughed and gossiped as they headed towards the armory.

There was one thing about all of this that worried Leon. How would Arthur take all of this when he finally found out? Leon doubted that either one of the two would walk away from that talk without being hurt emotionally But knowing those two. they would patch things up and be back to insulting each other in no time.

Smiling, Leon pondered into his new insight to the real Merlin beneath the that helpless-fool facade, knowing that one day, Merlin would one day never have to use it again. And that warmed the knight's heart in a way that Leon had never thought possible.