Blood. Screams. The sound of metal on metal. Rust. Then silence.
Merlin wakes with a scream caught in his throat and his forehead covered in sweat. The clock on the table tells him it's two twenty-seven in the morning. The digital lights tell him he's been waiting far too long.
Blood. Screams. The sound of metal on metal. Rust. Then silence.
Merlin arranges the blankets around him so that they no longer cling to his skin. He lays his head on his pillow and tries to breathe. He listens to the silence and the faint sounds of crickets chirping outside.
The silence crushes him. If all he can hear is silence, then that makes the screams all the more louder in his mind.
He falls back to sleep.
Blood. Screams. The sound of metal on metal. Rust. Then silence.
Then silence. Then silence. Blood. Screams. The sound of metal on metal. Then silence.
This time when Merlin wakes up, he does scream, with his hands grabbing at the air and his voice saying "Arthur!"
He thrashes until the sheets bind his limbs to his body, and a hand is warm on his shoulder.
"Shh," Arthur says, "I'm here, Merlin, it's alright. I'm here."
"Arthur," Merlin gasps, trying to reach out but finding he can't.
"I'm here now. All that is behind us." Arthur keeps up the murmur of soothing words as he disentangles Merlin from the bedsheets before sliding underneath them himself.
Merlin is shaking, hard, equal parts ashamed at being so affected like this, and grateful that Arthur is back again, to comfort Merlin and reassure him.
Arthur tucks Merlin against his chest and holds him as he falls back to sleep.
Blood. Screams. The sound of metal on metal. Rust.
In the daylight Merlin is different. He smiles more. He laughs when Arthur can't figure out how to use a bicycle, and snickers when he tricks Arthur into eating sour skittles. His eyes sparkle, not with magic, when Arthur finally gets the hang of the telephone, and when Arthur takes Merlin's hand in his own, Merlin's chest grows warm.
The day is when Merlin is happiest. Arthur is here, alive, and at his side.
But at night there's blood, and screams, and the sound of metal on metal, and rust. And silence.
"Hush," Arthur says automatically. He's taken to sleeping in Merlin's bed so that he can constantly reassure Merlin that he's still here. "Sh, Merlin. I'm here."
It becomes a ritual, for Arthur to lull Merlin back to sleep with strong hands on his skin and soothing words in his ear.
"Don't go," Merlin says one night, violently whispering the words into Arthur's neck. "Don't ever leave me alone again. Take me with you next time. Please Arthur. Please."
"I promise," Arthur says, "I'm not going anywhere."
The next night Arthur wraps his arms around Merlin even before either of them falls asleep. The screams are a little quieter.
The next day Arthur kisses Merlin over breakfast. And again in the park when Merlin buys him more of that ice cream Arthur has come to love.
That night, when Merlin wakes up in a cold sweat, his eyes wide with terror, Arthur takes his face and kisses him on the lips, slow and firm. He kisses his promise into Merlin's lips. "I'm here. I love you. I'm not going to leave."
After that night, Merlin stops hearing the screams.