A/N: This is set in a Medieval Fantasy AU of Marvel called "Demons and Non-Believers" that I'm creating primarily for an X-Men fanfic that I haven't yet begun posting.

The Knight's Spell

Sir Grant Ward glared down at the map in his hands. The ink had started to fade and the soft leather was wearing thin in places, but it was still easy enough to make out, though Grant didn't like what it was telling him. At all. The only viable route between where he and his charges were and where they needed to be was through the Shrieking Caves, a dangerous route even for a much more experienced party.

Jemma and Leo were...well, 'inexperienced' was putting it mildly. Grant didn't think either one had been outside of an alchemy lab for longer than eight hours since they were five, and likely neither had stepped foot outside the protective walls of a city before embarking on this mission ten days past. Brilliant alchemists both, undoubtedly, but neither one had any practical skills for surviving in the real world. Which is why he was here, of course, camped in a depressing little ravine halfway between Nowhere and Nowhere Else, slowly developing the headaches that always plagued those who habitually replaced sleep with even the most skillfully brewed Watchman's Potions.

Carefully rolling the map and slipping it into his pack, Grant stood and poked Leo's sleeping shoulder with the toe of his boot. "Jemma! Leo! Morning!"

Sleepy, unhappy sounds were the only reply from either of his charges as they began to move. He didn't see how they had the right to complain; at least they'd slept some in the past ten days, several hours each night in fact.

Jemma sat up first, blinking at the pale morning light and pushing adorably messy light brown hair out of her face. She tried to hide a yawn behind her hand. "Watchman's Potion still working for you, Sir Grant?"

"Yeah, um," he gestured toward his head, "bit of a headache been coming on, but yeah."

"Oh." Disappointment displaced the pleasant smile on her face, and he was momentarily sorry he'd mentioned the headache. It really wasn't that bad yet. "I suppose that's to be expected, after using it so many nights in succession, even with the improvements to the formula. It is—well, the potion is at least noticeably better than those you've used in the past?"

He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring grin. "Yeah, definitely. Headache's usually this bad after three, maybe five nights. I could likely go a month or more on your Watchman's before I had any pain worth complaining about."

She smiled as though one of her professors had just patted her on the head and told her 'well done'. Or whatever it was professors did when students performed well. Grant hadn't had occasion to know many personally.

"You know," Leo cut in, apparently awake enough himself to be sitting up and rubbing grumpily at his eyes, "Jemma and I have told you before; we'd be happy to take turns with the watch. Watchman's Potion is great, especially Jemma's improved version, but it still isn't meant for long-term use."

Grant shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

"No, really," Leo continued, scrubbing one hand through his brown curls and apparently still worrying about it despite Grant's instruction. "We could always wake you if there was a problem. You knights don't sleep too deeply, anyway; it's been trained out of you. And it's not like we've actually been attacked by anything during the night this whole time..."

"I couldn't sleep when I'm supposed to be watching over you," Grant countered. "That's been trained out of me as well, for the record. I'll sleep again once we're all safe behind some sturdy stone walls." He stood and started pouring ingredients for porridge into a pot over the small fire. "Get yourselves ready. The more ground we cover today, the faster we'll get somewhere with sturdy stone walls."

Granted, 'faster' was relative, especially when travelling by foot.

As they all sat around the fire eating a short time later, Grant had to admit that in the time he'd been travelling with them, his charges were getting quicker and more efficient in their morning routines. Leo could even handle his own bedroll now without help—Jemma had figured hers out the first morning, but she wasn't cursed with both clumsiness and stubbornness like her partner.

"We're going to be heading into a more dangerous area soon," Grant began, between bites of bland porridge. "If there was another option, I'd never take the two of you into the Shrieking Caves." He sighed, looking down. "But we're out of options at this point."

Grant looked into both of their faces to be sure they were listening to—and understanding—what he was saying. "It can easily take several days to get through the Caves, more if you're unlucky, and it won't be possible to camp while we're inside, so we'll all have to use Watchman's for a while. The upside is that we'll be able to travel at night as well."

Leo was nodding.

Jemma's brow furrowed in thought. "The Shrieking Caves? Isn't that one of the few places where Pixie Fang mushroom grows?"

Grant stared at her blankly. "I have no idea. There are...I've seen mushrooms there, but I wouldn't know what kind any of them were."

"I think you're right, Jemma," Leo said, grinning eagerly at her. "I seem to remember reading that somewhere."

"We're not going there to collect mushrooms," Grant said, his voice hard. "There are dangers in those caves no one understands or can defend against. We need to get through as quickly as possible; it's our best chance to get through alive."

He set his empty bowl aside, ignoring the matching looks of disappointment aimed at him. "And speaking of getting through alive..." He narrowed his eyes at them both. "You both know how important this mission is, or at least I assume you do."

They both nodded, somehow reminding him of pupils looking up at a teacher, despite Grant having never been a teacher and really having no idea what that looked like.

"I need to keep you both alive," Grant continued, "and in order to help with that I could bond one of you, at least for the duration of this mission."

They both looked momentarily surprised, almost awed. "You'd do that?" Leo asked.

"Of course I would," Grant replied. "Neither of you are telepaths, correct?"

Leo and Jemma looked at each other.

"No, we were both thoroughly tested," Jemma said.

"Definitely not telepaths, either of us," Leo agreed. "No, um, no innate magical powers of any kind, in fact."

"Then the Bond would be easy enough to release later," Grant said. "Not really an issue."

"You should bond Jemma," Leo said decisively.

Grant would have agreed with him, but Jemma was looking affronted.

"And why, pray tell, should he bond me, specifically?" she demanded. "If you think just because I'm a woman I should have some sort of special consideration, as if I'm somehow inherently more fragile than you, Leo—"

Leo cut her off. "It's because you're the healer, Jemma. You can heal me if I get hurt, but I'm no good at that. Sir Grant's Bond can help keep you alive so you can keep the two of us alive."

"Oh." She relaxed, dropping her gaze, a rosy blush tinting her cheeks. "I suppose that makes sense then."

"I suppose it does," Grant agreed. He stood. "I need to talk to Leo for a moment, though."

Leo raised a confused eyebrow, but stood anyway to follow Grant. Jemma gave them a forced smile. "I'll just clean up here then." Her voice was all polite cheerfulness, when inside she was likely frustrated to be left out of whatever conversation the men were about to have without her. Grant had seen enough of polite society to recognize forced courtesy, especially when—as it so often was—laced with thinly veiled hostility.

Once they were far enough away that he was pretty sure she wouldn't hear them, assuming Leo knew enough to keep his voice down, but still close enough that he could leap to her aid should any threat present itself, Grant took Leo by the arm and spoke quietly. "I'm sure you know what they say about the bond, the 'Knight's Spell.'"

When Leo gave him an uncomprehending look, Grant clarified, "The saying among the common folk: 'Two bound by the Knight's Spell often find love well'? The Bond can, well, encourage or contribute to romantic feelings between the bonded pair. If you'd rather I bonded you instead, I'm giving you that option."

Leo glared up at him, wrenching his arm away only to step even closer to Grant. His voice was quiet yet surprisingly fierce when he spoke. "I need you to understand that I'm not in any way threatened by your 'Bond' or—or your bulging muscles or the fact that—that you're a knight. I'm just as much a man as you are, in case you were confused about that fact. And Jemma—Jemma is perfectly capable of knowing her own mind and making her own decisions for herself, with or without pseudo-magical influences. If you think you need to warn anyone about the possible side effects of the Bond, then warn Jemma. I'm neither qualified nor authorized to make her decisions for her."

Leo continued to glare at Grant as he stepped away, then he turned and stalked back to the camp to help pack up.

Well, then. It seemed if he got angry enough, Leo was capable of sounding downright confident. And not just about weaponized alchemy or his beloved mechanical inventions.

Grant walked back to join the other two. It seemed they had everything basically packed up and were waiting on him for a change.

"Jemma," he began. "Before we go through with the Bond, you should be aware of the possible side effects—"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," she cut him off, making a small dismissive wave with one hand. "I've read all about the Knight's Bond. From what I understand the 'side effects' when they do present are usually quite mild and don't persist beyond the duration of the Bond itself." She smiled confidently at him. "We have more important things to worry about. Like our mission."

Grant nodded, ignoring the mocking smirk Leo was giving him. "Right. So you agree, then? To the Bond, I mean."

She nodded. "I do."

Grant had never done it before, but the Bond was really quite simple, requiring no words, just focused will and physical contact. He took her hand and willed the Bond. The effects should be immediately obvious for both, and for his part Grant felt the rush of warmth wash over him, nearly dizzying as his body suddenly felt almost weightless and all his senses sharpened and focused on the woman in front of him. He was disconcertingly immediately aware of both her breathing and heartbeat, and the warmth of her hand in his suddenly felt very right instead of slightly awkward.

He wasn't sure if the effect on his mood would fade once he got used to the Bond, but for now it was the best thing ever. He knew he'd most likely have to release the Bond later, but at the moment he didn't understand how anyone ever willingly let this go.

"All right?" he asked her, even though he was pretty sure he could feel through the Bond that she was fine.

"Yes." She nodded, blushing slightly and looking away. "I think it worked."

"Definitely." Reminding himself that he currently had two young alchemists under his protection, Grant let go of Jemma's hand and glanced at Leo who, apparently, was showing just how not threatened he felt by scowling at Grant as though he were a potion that had just unexpectedly blown up, boiled over, or whatever it was potions did to spectacularly rebel against their alchemists. Grant shrugged, marvelling at the complete lack of soreness in his muscles. "Let's get going then."

His pack, as he settled it on his back, even felt lighter. That was to be expected of course, with the Bond's increase to his strength, but it was one thing to know a thing in theory and quite another to experience it first hand.

At least for now, even his headache was gone.

A/N: The concept of the Knight's Bond here is heavily inspired the Warder bond in 'The Wheel of Time' book series.