AN: hi there! thanks so much for the great, quick response, it's very encouraging and I hope I can write well enough for it to continue!
Swifty: Hey! thanks so much, that's really kind of you, hope you enjoy this update!
Ok, so Merlin got beat up trying to recuse a boy called Will, and the first punch was thrown by a blonde prat...Now Merlin's severely beaten and chucked in a bin, what's going to happen next?
n.b I had to make up Gaius' last name, since I wasn't actually sure what it was, hope you don't mind.
Enjoy!
"! ! Gaius!"
Arthur didn't care if he had to pound the door down to get the school chemistry teacher's attention, he needed the old man, and damnit he was going to get him.
"GAIUS!" He bellowed, jut as the door swung open and the doddery old man squinted at him.
"Arthur? What is it?"
Arthur shoved past him, walking down the hall and turning a sharp left, rummaging though Gaius's things as if he owned the place. Finally he pulled out a crushed looking first aid kit and grabbed a bewildered Gaius' arm, dragging him outside and slamming the door shut behind him.
"Arthur, what on Earth is going on, where are you taking me?"
Arthur shook his head- for the first time Gaius noticed how white the boy was, as if he'd seen a ghost, and his hands were trembling. Arthur threw the door to his red Mini open and leapt inside, jamming his keys into the ignition and revving the engine, chucking the first aid kit into the back seat.
Gaius stood outside, utterly bewildered.
"Come on Gaius!" Arthur shouted, and then, seeing the perplexity on the old man's face, his voice lowered and softened. "I'll explain on the way, but I mean it, Gaius I need your help now."
Frowning, Gaius nodded and settled into the back seat- and had barely shut the door before Arthur slammed his foot down on the accelerator. Gaius held onto the sides of his seat with white knuckles and Arthur explained tensely in a rapid fire manner.
"We were walking back from school, y'know- me and the usual lot." Gaius grumbled a little, but Arthur ignored him. "Anyway, came across one of the sports scholarship lads- you know, one of those orphans," Gaius could guess where this was going by now, but he let Arthur continue.
"We were just messing round…ah, putting him in his place." Gaius fixed the boy with an accusing glare and Arthur began to tap his fingers on the steering wheel.
"He took Jeremy's place on the rugby team! He needed to be taught a lesson. Anyway, then some kid- filthy and skinny and-and thick as two short planks came over and said hello and asked what we were doing. Well, he figured it out fast enough and then he started insulting us whilst his friend ran away."
"Very brave" Gaius remarked as they swerved round another corner.
Arthur ground his teeth and nodded, once. "I know- but, it was just, he was just- infuriating, and it drove me mad. I hit him- I didn't realize how weak we was, he must have been skinnier than he looked because he crumpled to the ground, and then- well, then things got out of hand."
"How out of hand?" Gaius asked apprehensively.
Arthur didn't reply, instead screeching to a halt at the end of the alleyway where they'd attacked the boy and Gaius got out with as much urgency as the blonde, who quickly grabbed the first aid kit from the back and ran down, looking around for the stranger. There was some blood on the ground- but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Well, where is he?" Gaius demanded. Arthur shrugged, searching his surroundings.
"I don't know." He spat, frustrated. "When they really started laying into him I got to you as soon as I could- I knew I couldn't fight them…"
Gaius raised one eyebrow to a remarkable height, an ability for which he was infamous in the college, and looked around too- he knew it would have cost Arthur considerable pride to have admitted that, and that therefore this situation was more serious than he had assumed.
Suddenly, there was the sound of a fist knocking on plastic. Gaius and Arthur jumped, looking round, and then Arthur noticed the three of four black bags of rubbish spilling their contents on the ground, as if they'd been thrown there in a hurry. Arthur shook his head, running to the green bin.
"Bastards."
He flung the lid open and saw the kid inside, who looked up blearily. Nasty black and purple bruises were already blooming round his face, and maroon blood was crusted on his pale skin. He blinked a little, then coughed, and Arthur caught the stench of sick. Grimacing, he gently tugged the kid out, and his bag. The boy's trousers and top were stained with sick- and though Arthur felt sorry for him, he quickly put him down and stepped back disgusted, brushing his hands on his trousers.
Gaius rushed forwards, reaching out to check the boy's pulse, and he flinched away. Arthur felt a pang of guilt for setting this whole thing off. The boy breathed out- his breath rattled and he trembled a little. His eyes finally focused, resting on Arthur.
"Oh." He breathed shakily. "It's the prat."
Gaius smirked at Arthur then gently turned the boy to him, who flinched away from his touch again. "It's alright lad, you're safe now."
The boy chuckled lightly, and again Arthur felt a rush of admiration for him. Gaius was right. He was brave.
"Right, so I should feel safe with the guy who set this off?"
Gaius sighed and raised an eyebrow, and Arthur tried to contain a chuckle as the kid watched it rise higher and higher with increasing incredulity.
"This was the guy who came to me- the only doctor he knew- the second those hoodlums started on you, in order to let me help you."
The boy frowned. "Yeah, and the guy who threw the first punch, look, I appreciate you getting me out, but if you don't mind, I'll be on my way."
He tried to get up and Gaius, too shocked to do otherwise, leant back and let him.
Shaking, he managed to pull himself up and half straightened before he winced and bent back down, clutching his side and hissing in pain- Arthur also noticed he was trying not to put weight on his right ankle, and his breathing was still uneven. Rolling his eyes, he came closer.
"Look- I don't know your name, but…." He took a moment, tried, and finding he couldn't spit out the right words, stared firmly in the wrong direction whilst he found others. "What happened to you shouldn't have happened, and it was in part to do with me, and-and- it was wrong. P…..please let him fix you, just a bit."
The boy raised an eyebrow at him, then stepped back, leaning against the wall and sliding down it, carefully placing his ankle on the ground without taking his hand from his side. He seemed to realize how much pride the statement had taken the prat, and re-assessed the boy from where he sat as he let Gaius take his pulse.
"I'm Merlin, and…actually, I don't know your name either?"
The prat nodded, grinning a little. "Arthur. Good to meet you, and…y'know."
Merlin smirked, though it was hindered by his fat split lip, realizing that it seemed physically impossible for this guy to say sorry. Deciding not to torture him, he just nodded, showing he understood. "Yeah."
He hissed in pain as Gaius gently pressed round his sides and Gaius looked at him cautiously.
"Sorry, but I think we need to take off your shirt and jacket."
Merlin looked at him piercingly with his bright blue eyes, then nodded sharply, once.
As Gaius gently slid his hands under the material of Merlin's light jacket and pushed it from his shoulders, the boy tried to distract himself by looking at Arthur.
"So, you sure you didn't bring some paedophile with you?"
Arthur laughed at the thought. "Gaius? No- he's alright actually, just a chemistry teacher with an interest in medicine."
Gaius chuckled at this description of himself and Merlin was held off from his next question as he pulled the T-Shirt gently over his head, baring the boys skinny white torso.
Arthur glanced away out of respect, but Gaius' horrified gasp drew his eyes back, and he couldn't help mimicking the old man's cry. This time Merlin didn't look to him, instead the raven haired boy looked intently down the alley, his eyes darkening though his face remained stubbornly impassive.
He was quite literally skin and bones- Arthur could see his skin and scraps of muscle clinging to his rib cage- could see clearly the entire outline and the not just flat, but somehow hollow shape of his stomach. And all across the pale skin- which was sprinkled with a few dark hairs, were scars. Some looked to be from burns, others from cuts, and plenty of fading bruises which had obviously been there before today.
Arthur winced when he saw the fresh, angrier bruises layered on top, and he slumped- feeling sicker and sicker with guilt.
"This is so wrong" His voice was hoarse as he pointed out the obvious- but there was nothing else to say.
Merlin chuckled, then coughed again- hard, his whole frame trembling. After a while he calmed and Gaius took his temperature- Arthur knew him well enough to be able to tell when he was worried- and this was the most worried he'd ever seen him.
"This is nothing." Merlin muttered. Arthur frowned.
"Yeah, sure looks like it- heck, I get that every day." His voice was layered with sarcasm, and Merlin's darkened eyes flickered over to him quickly.
"Actually, I do." His gaze flickered up and down the alley, and Arthur looked with him. Merlin met his stare with a bitter smile. "Well, not any more."
Gaius seemed to have finished, having had to use most of his first aid kit, and Merlin struggled to his feet. "Now, if you'll excuse me."
He made to leave- and both he and Arthur were surprised when Gaius grabbed his arm to stop him with a cry of "wait!"
Merlin yanked his arm from the elder man's, trying to hide his slight fear. "What? Look- I don't need your help, I'm fine, and if you try to interfere, it'll just make more trouble."
Gaius bowed his head and took a deep breath, and sensing he was going to speak again, Merlin watched tensely whilst Arthur stood a little further back between them, as if he was supervising.
"Look, Merlin- I've never neglected a patient. Purely on a professional basis, I'd very much appreciate it if you'd let me finish your treatment- and at least get you into some clean clothes. You're not well, and weaker than you may realize, I admire your courage, but please come with me."
Merlin bit his lip- looking from the old man to the golden boy, and his gaze lingered on the latter, as if he recognized him from somewhere. He took a deep breath, and his voice was low as he checked up and down the street again.
"Swear not to call the police, or some research department or social services?"
Gaius nodded seriously, taking the boy's outstretched hand. "Of course, that's entirely up to you, although why you think I'd call a research department I don't know."
Merlin grinned a little, with the strangest expression on his face as he glanced down at his own slender fingers.
"You'll figure it out eventually, they always do."
Research department? How unwell is Merlin? what's made Gaius so worried? hows Arthur going to deal with the guilt? What's going to happen with whoever's supposed to be in charge of Merlin, and why did they kick him out?
Haha, hope you liked it, as ever, all comments are greatly appreciated. 3 reviews and I'll post the update by tomorrow, or at the latest sunday morning.
Thanks very much for reading,
Kat