Ok, so this is chapter two, thank you all for your reviews, sorry, this one isn't as long, but I'm planning on updating soon and try to get it back up to where it was in the last chapter. Please review and let me know what you think.
Merlin snuffled and drew the blankets close around his shoulders, staring at the TV through bleary eyes, feeling horrible all around. A few days ago he had started to feel sick and with his condition he had been rushed to Gaius. He had been there for a little over a month before coming down with a cold. He had started to gain back some of his weight, Gaius had been pleased with his progress but they were now worried that he had become sick.
"Come on kid," Lancelot said, helping him to his feet at eight o'clock, he was going to bed early due to his health and didn't put up any protest, feeling almost too tired to make it to his room.
"Night Lancelot," Merlin said as he walked into his room and collapsed onto his bed, pulling the covers over the extra blanket he had around his shoulders.
Lance stood in the doorway and watched him, worried about the young man in front of him. If he continued to be sick, it could kill him, his body's immune system had been knocked down with his weight problem. Turning, he closed the door but didn't lock it so he could have quick access to Merlin if he needed and returned to the front room, turning on the monitor that ran throughout the apartment, both video and audio that led into Merlin's room. At ten o'clock, Lance made it into his room and laid down, making sure the monitor in his room was on before closing his eyes.
Two hours later, he was awakened by the sound of retching and he sat up in bed, cursing under his breath as he threw the blankets back and rushed across the hall. He opened the door and found Merlin leaning over the side of the bed, throwing up everything he had eaten that day, as little as that was.
"Merlin," Lance said, rushing to his side, bringing a bucket with him to catch what he could.
"I'm sorry," Merlin said miserably and Lance thought he heard him wrong until the younger man repeated himself.
"Merlin, you have nothing to be sorry for," Lance admonished but the younger man kept saying it over and over again. Lance reached for Merlin's forehead and pulled back when he felt the skin burning and cursed again. Standing, he made his way to the wall by the door to a communication console and called Gaius and explained the situation. Once he was done, he heard the other man cursing colorfully, something that he didn't hear often, before the line was disconnected. Lance left the room briefly and grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom and soaked it with cold water and reentered the room. Merlin was now leaning against the wall, looking pale and an arm over his stomach, breathing heavily. Lance moved into the room and placed the washcloth on the boy's forehead and Merlin sighed, cracking open his eyes slightly.
"I'm sorry," he said again, his voice strained and rough.
"Merlin," Lance admonished quietly, shaking his head, "there is absolutely no reason to be sorry, you're sick, it happens." Merlin sighed and closed his eyes and leaned his head back but a moment later, his eyes shot open and reached for the bucket which Lance handed him. Lance had to turn away as Merlin retched again, this time nothing came out, his stomach empty.
"Lance?" Gaius' voice called and Lance turned towards the doorway to see the older physician and two orderlies making their way into the room, a stretcher outside the door.
Lance stood and made way for Gaius as he sat down in his place, sticking a thermometer in Merlin's mouth. When the thermometer beeped, Gaius pulled it out of Merlin's mouth and cursed again.
"One hundred and five," he said and stood, motioning to the orderlies who moved forward and picked up Merlin gently and placed him on the gurney and headed towards the door, Gaius and Lance following. They made their way to the elevator and to the infirmary in minutes, Gaius trying to keep Merlin awake who was refusing. Once in the infirmary, they moved Merlin to a private room and set him up with oxygen as he started having problems breathing.
"He's dehydrated, have you had him drinking nothing but water?" Gaius demanded of Lance and he bristled a bit, "sorry Lance, I know you know how to do your job." Gaius had one of the nurses set up an IV and continued to try to keep Merlin awake.
"Merlin," Gaius said, tapping Merlin's flushed cheek and the younger man jumped a bit and his eyes opened in slits. "You need to stay awake my boy," Gaius said, his voice stern.
"'m tired," Merlin mumbled, his eyes slipping closed again and Gaius took a deep breath and Lance could see how worried he was.
"Merlin," he called again, but received no response, "Merlin!" he said louder, near the younger man's ear but received no response and Lance felt fear settle in his stomach. "I need a heart monitor," Gaius said, turning but found a nurse waiting for his demand and he quickly attached it to Merlin's pointer finger. "We need to get his temperature down," he said pulling another thermometer out of his Merlin's mouth which read 106. They pulled in ice packs and cool blankets and covered Merlin with them.
"What can I do Gaius?" Lance asked, standing near the doorway, feeling useless as he watched his young charge fight for his life.
"There's nothing right now Lance," Gaius said, giving him a apologetic smile over his shoulder.
Twenty minutes later, Merlin's temperature had dropped two degrees but he was still unconscious and Gaius was afraid that he was slipping into a coma.
Lance was sitting next to Merlin's bed and watched him closely, ready to call out for Gaius if anything changed, good or bad. They had incubated Merlin when his breathing became more and more difficult and Gaius was afraid of a collapsed lung.
"You've got to fight this Merlin," Lance said fiercely, touching the younger man's hand briefly, "you're better than a measly cold, you're stronger than this." Over the month and a half that Merlin had been his charge, he had come to care for him, he was smart and funny, a bit clumsy but he was a good kid.
"Lance why don't you get some sleep?" Gaius asked, entering the room and laying a hand on his shoulder.
"I think I'll stay here," Lance said, "I have nothing else to do, my charge is here, that's where I'm going to be."
"I thought you'd say that," Gaius said and moved aside when a nurse brought in a cot, "you can sleep on this."
"Thank you Gaius," Lance said, glancing at the cot briefly before turning his gaze back to the young man on the bed.
-Flashback-
Merlin was back in the camps, walking among the many warlocks and witches that were shoved into cloth tents, ten to a tent built for no more than five, wandering aimlessly when a voice called out.
"Ah, young Merlin, finally," a male voice called and he turned to see an old man, so thin he could see almost every bone in his body, long blonde, scraggly hair hanging down his back. His eyes were sunken and dark, most of his teeth missing, a collar around his neck and circles around his wrists, jiggling as he stoked a pathetic fire.
"Do I know you?" Merlin asked, eying the man before him and the man laughed heartily.
"Not yet young warlock, but you will," he said and waved a hand at the log across the fire from him, "please, join me."
"I don't know," Merlin said wearily and the man laughed again.
"I promise no harm will come to you, please join me," the man said and Merlin sat slowly, keeping on the other side of the fire. "My name is Kilgarrah, let this old man sit and talk to a young one for a while."
"How did you know my name?" Merlin asked.
"I know many things Merlin," Kilgarrah said, "I have seen many things that happened and many that will happen."
"You're a seer," Merlin pointed out and Kilgarrah nodded his head once.
"I am, and I have been waiting for you for a long time, I thought we would have met before now, but it was not meant to be. How small you are for such a great destiny," the older man said, staring at Merlin, looking over Merlin's form that was much slimmer than it had been two months ago.
"I don't understand," Merlin said, shaking his head.
"You will," Kilgarrah said and kicked sand over his fire, putting it out, plunging their little corner into darkness.
"What did you do that for?" Merlin asked but didn't receive a response. "Hello?" he called but again nothing. A guard walked by a moment later with a torch and Merlin saw that the log across from him was empty and he thought he could hear the laughter of the older man, echoing around him.
-End Flashback-
Merlin had been in the infirmary for two days having slipped into a coma after the first night, they had been able to bring his temperature down to 101 but it was refusing to lower any more than that. Lance hadn't left longer than a few minutes at a time, when he did it was either to get food, to change clothes or to shower and nothing Gaius or anyone could say would change his mind.
"101," Gaius said, taking Merlin's temperature, "it's not going down," he said, rubbing his forehead before shaking his head.
"What is this?" Lancelot asked, from what he could understand, no one knew what was happening with the young man. They were scratching their heads at the fact that Merlin was unresponsive to treatment, and they were all worried that he wouldn't awaken.
"I have an idea," Gaius said, looking around as if afraid to be heard.
"You think it's magic," Lancelot said matter-of-factly, receiving a nod in response.
"I've heard of this happening, when a warlock's magic has been suppressed for so long, it turns inwards and attacks the body. With Merlin's immune system so damaged with how he has been treated, this collar is doing more harm than good."
"What can be done?" Lancelot asked and Gaius shook his head again.
"Wait, there is only two ways this can go, either his magic will continue to attack and kill him or he will be able to fight it off," the physician said and placed a hand on Lancelot's shoulder before leaving.
After leaving Merlin's room, Gaius made his way through the infirmary and to the elevator and headed to the top floor of the building above and to Uther Pendragon's office. He knocked on the open doorway and entered when he was bid to.
"Ah Gaius," Uther said, nodding to him when he walked in, "Arthur and I were just finishing dinner." Gaius nodded to Arthur Pendragon who was sitting across from his father eating Chinese with chopsticks.
"I came to give you an update on Merlin Emrys' condition as you asked," Gaius said standing in front of both father and son.
"And?" Uther asked, wiping his mouth before he set his food aside and sat back, folding his hands over his stomach.
"There is no change," Gaius replied, "his temperature is still at 101 and not dropping, no matter what we do." There was a long silence as Uther considered the situation before him, shooting a look at his son who continued to eat.
"How much is he costing us to keep him in the infirmary?" he asked and Arthur set his food aside and wiped his mouth.
"At least an additional two hundred a day," he said, pulling a folder to him and glancing at the paper inside briefly.
"Sir," Gaius said feeling appalled, "you're honestly not suggesting what I think you're suggesting." Uther looked away from his son to Gaius with a stern look.
"Even if he survives, he's in no condition to be put to work, so not only are we paying for his medical care which is more than tripled while he is in the infirmary, we are making no money from him if he gets out."
"Sir," Giaus said, trying to keep his anger in check, "he is a human being, he is sick and once he is well and up to where he needs to be to be put to work, he will pay you back." There was a long silence where Uther stared at the physician with an unreadable look.
"He is a warlock," he said eventually, "they are not human, they are unnatural beings that need to be controlled." Gaius wanted to shake his head, he was probably one of the only people who knew why Uther hated magic so much, but it made him sad at how warlocks and witches were treated. "He has two more days," Uther said with finality, an obvious dismissal and Gaius turned and left without another word.
He made his way back down to the infirmary and stood outside Merlin's room and watched the young man, trying to figure out how to save him.
-Flashback-
The next time Merlin saw Kilgarrah, it was three days later and he was standing in line to receive his small ration of food for the day. The older man was standing at the end of the line, watching him and people moved around him as if he wasn't there. Merlin kept his head down and moved away from the line without getting all of his food and moved towards the small grove of trees he ate at every day.
"Young Merlin," Kilgarrah's voice said and Merlin sighed before he turned to find the man standing there, smiling.
"Kilgarrah," he said, and the man sat down without being invited, his hands empty.
"You didn't get your full ration," Kilgarrah said, nodding his head at Merlin's meager food and Merlin shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not that hungry," Merlin lied and Kilgarrah chuckled.
"Merlin, you need to keep your strength up, we're going to need you." Merlin took a bite of his bread and took a sip of water.
"Who is we?" he asked, hunching his shoulders against the biting wind, the beginning of winter on the horizon and he had given his coat to a young girl who didn't have one.
"Our people," Kilgarrah said, sweeping his hand out encompassing the entire camp and Merlin shook his head.
"I'm trying to eat," Merlin said, trying to ignore the man in front of him.
"Can you create fire?" Kilgarrah asked and Merlin looked up at him, confused, his eyes narrowed, "right here and now?"
"Of course not, I'm restricted by this," Merlin said, pointing to his collar, "I can't do magic, it's not possible."
"Isn't it?" Kilgarrah asked before smiling and standing, "it may not be as impossible as it seems." With that, he walked away and Merlin stayed staring at the ground in front of him, thinking that the man had to be crazy.
-End Flashback-
Early the next morning, Gaius made his way towards Merlin's room to check on him and found someone unexpected standing outside.
"Arthur?" he asked, walking up to the younger blond man and stopped by his side, both looking in through the large window that showed Merlin's prone form. "What do I owe this pleasure?" Arthur snorted and glanced at the old physician out of the corner of his eye.
"It's no pleasure of yours or mine Gaius," he said and nodded his head towards Merlin, "how is he?" Gaius sighed and rubbed a hand over his forehead, a headache starting behind his eyes and making its way forward.
"No change, has your father made any change to his decision?"
"No," Arthur replied, "he asked me to come down and check on things, he was too busy to make his rounds this week."
"Do you have any questions?" Gaius asked and the younger man shook his head.
"Everything looks like it is in order, as always," Arthur said before he nodded his head in a farewell and left.
"What was Arthur Pendragon doing down here?" Lancelot asked once Gaius had stepped into the room.
"He was doing the rounds, Uther was unable it seems," Gaius replied and moved to take Merlin's temperature which was still a steady 101.
"No interrogation like his father?" Lance asked and Gaius shot him an amused look.
"No, the Arthur is much nicer than Uther," Gaius said, turning to the saline drip to make sure everything was as it should be. Nodding to Lance he moved to leave the room when a thought struck him and he stopped a foot from the door.
"Gaius?" Lance asked, noticing that the older man had frozen, "what is it?"
"Interrogation," Gaius said, mostly to himself.
"What?" Lance asked confused and sat back when Gaius spun around, his eyes wide.
"There are interrogation rooms that have not been used in years," the older man said again almost to himself.
"What is your point?" Lance asked watching Gaius as he strode further into the room and to the other side of Merlin's bed.
"Those rooms were used to interrogate witches and warlocks, magic could be used but it was stopped before it could do any damage," Gaius said and Lance's eyes widened in understanding.
-Flashback-
Merlin stared down at the small pile of sticks in front of him in frustration, he had been trying to light them with magic that he supposedly had access to but nothing was happening. He had snuck away at the first possible chance he had and had made his way into the forest that surrounded their camp. When he was sure that he would not be seen, he gathered the pile of sticks and was now trying to light them as Kilgarrah had said he could.
"Crazy old fool," Merlin said, sitting heavily on the floor of the forest, putting his head in his hands. The sound of crackling wood reached his ears moments later and he found light dancing through his fingers and lowered his hands slowly, there in front of him the pile of wood was on fire.
"Ha!" Merlin cried, jumping to his feet and doing a small dance in victory
"Do you see now young Merlin?" a voice said from behind him and Merlin cursed and spun around, nearly falling into the fire.
"Don't do that!" he cried, quickly dousing the fire with a word and Kilgarrah smiled at him.
"How is this possible?" Merlin asked.
"You are a very powerful warlock Merlin, the strongest I have ever encountered, you will save us all."\
"I don't understand," Merlin said, shaking his head.
"You will, in time," the old man said and turned to walk away.
"Wait!" Merlin called and went to follow him but as he stepped forward, the man's image seemed to shimmer before disappearing completely. "Kilgarrah?" he called, making his way into the camp but the man was no where to be seen. He asked the everyone in the camp if they had seen him, but no one seemed to know who he was talking about, no one seemed to remember seeing the old man at all.
-End Flashback-
Near two o'clock in the morning, Gaius and Lancelot wheeled Merlin into one of the large interrogation rooms ten levels below the infirmary. It was large and the walls made of cement, one heavy door the only way out and a observatory window across from the door. In the middle of the room, there was a large bed with restraints made to hold the warlock or witch down.
They moved Merlin into the room and placed him on the bed and strapped him down lightly, not enough to restrain him fully but enough that he couldn't hurt himself or them. Once they were done, Gaius moved forward and reached for the collar around Merlin's neck.
"Is that wise Gaius?" Lancelot asked, moving forward as if to stop him.
"It is, I am not planning to remove it, only to loosen it so his magic can release itself, if that is the problem, he will be well by the morning." Lance stood near the door and watched the man loosen the collar and stood back. "We should probably head into the next room," Gaius said and led the way out and into the small observation room.
"This won't set off any alarms?" Lance asked and the older man shook his head.
"I removed the chip," he said as if it were a day to day thing, like it wasn't against the law to do so and Lance felt torn.
"Gaius," he started but the older physician shook his head.
"I know how the blasted things work so I can remove them without incident, do not worry." Lance started to open his mouth but Gaius held up a hand to stop him, "watch," he said and pointed through the window at Merlin.
Lance turned and saw what looked like light blue sparks sparking out of the collar as if testing the air before more and more poured out, running over Merlin's skin. The sparks turned to what looked like bolts of electricity, running from the collar down his arms to his fingertips and down his chest to his toes. The bolts changed colors with every charge and ran up and down Merlin's body faster and faster until they seemed to form a sort of film, covering him from head to toe. When they finally stopped, a bright multi-colored layer of magic covered Merlin from the neck down.
"What's happening?" Lance asked quietly but Gaius shushed him and they watched as Merlin's eyes shot open, and even from five feet away where they were standing, they could see his eyes glowing gold. His eyes closed after a minute and the film shrunk until it covered his body tightly and then slowly disappeared into his body.
Both men waited for five minutes but Merlin did not move and so they entered the room cautiously, Gaius pulling out his thermometer as he stepped up to Merlin's side.
"99," he said, sighing deeply and reached forward to tighten the collar.
"He'll be all right?" Lance asked anxiously.
"Yes, his temperature is already dropping, he should be back to normal by the morning," the older man said and placed the chip back into the collar. "Let's get him back upstairs." Both men moved forward but Lance stopped.
"Gaius," he said and the other man could hear the confusion and weariness, "is the collar working?"
"Yes," the physician said, eying the younger man.
"Then explain this," Lance said and held up Merlin's hand which held an orb that was purely magic, with white and blue swirling inside giving off light.
The next morning, Gaius walked into Merlin's room and was surprised to find Lancelot missing from the room but Merlin was sitting up in bed and eating breakfast.
"It is good to see you awake Merlin," he said, smiling at the younger man. Merlin was still looking thin and a bit worse for wear but he had color back in his cheeks, color that wasn't there from fever.
"How long was I out?" Merlin asked, taking another bite of his applesauce.
"Four days," Gaius said, taking his temperature and was relieved to find it at normal levels, he checked the boys eyes and throat and found all well.
"Where is Lance?" Merlin asked as Gaius wrote down the information in his chart.
"Has he been here at all this morning?" Gaius asked, knowing that Lance was hiding, after finding that Merlin could do magic even with the collar, he had become scarce.
"No," Merlin said, shaking his head.
"Well I'm sure he'll stop by later, as long as you are feeling better, you can return to your rooms tomorrow afternoon." With that, Gaius left the room and found Arthur once again standing outside, watching Merlin.
"He's better," Arthur said, nodding to Merlin's form, "remarkable," he said and Gaius felt a spike of fear run through him. He had taken every precaution, he had disconnected the cameras recording the room they had used, had made sure that all of the nurses were busy elsewhere, he was sure he had been so careful.
"He is a remarkable young man," Gaius said, proud that his voice did not waiver.
"Indeed," Arthur said after a long, tense moment. "Did you see this?" the younger man asked, handing Gaius a folder and the older man took it and quickly read over the contents, paling at what he read.
"How did I not see this?" he asked, speaking more to himself than the man next to him.
"Do not blame yourself, it must have been overlooked by many, slavers know not to bring a carrier to us, Valiant must not have known either."
"Does your father know?" Gaius asked and Arthur shook his head.
"Not yet, I was on my way to take that to him when I thought I would stop and see how he was doing."
"Arthur, may I ask you to keep this from him, at least for now?" Gaius asked and Arthur looked at him with an eyebrow raised. The Pendragon's did not employ carriers, men who were able to bear children, they were too much trouble. There were other facilities that did, offered both men and women to carry children for those who couldn't. Those witches and warlocks were treated horribly though and used until they couldn't be used any more.
"And how long do you expect me to do that," Arthur asked, "once he is well we will not be able to put him to work, even if we did, how would we explain it to my father when he falls pregnant?"
"Let me tell him then, give me some time to find a way to keep him here," Gaius said, almost pleading, now that he knew Merlin could do magic, even with the collar, he felt very protective of the boy.
"I will give you a week," Arthur said, turning and leaving. Gaius sighed and walked to his office and placed the folder in his desk, locking it as he went to finish his rounds.
"Hi!" a voice brought Merlin's eyes from his book to see Gwen standing at the door, poking her head around the door frame, a smile on her face.
"Hi," Merlin replied and placed the book aside when she entered the room and Merlin could see Gwaine standing outside with another man that Merlin didn't know and he waived to Gwaine who smiled and nodded back.
"How are you feeling?" Gwen asked, sitting in the chair that Lance had occupied while Merlin had been sick
"Better," Merlin said and smiled as Gwen grinned.
"That's great to hear, they were worried about you, you know, Lance and Gaius," she said and Merlin pursed his lips, "what?"
"I haven't seen Lance," he said, playing with the blanket covering his legs, confused and hurt that the other man was absent.
"That's odd, when I came to see you the other day, he had been here since you got sick, Gaius was berating him for not taking care of himself," Gwen said.
"Everyone says that he was here until I woke up, he hasn't been back since," Merlin explained.
"That's crap!" Gwen said and Merlin looked up at her in surprise, "he's a moron, the next time I see him, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind," she said and Merlin worried for Lance's safety with the look on Gwen's face.
"You don't," Merlin started but Gwen turned her glare on him.
"I do, you're my friend Merlin, he has no right to run away," she said.
"Everything all right in here?" Gwaine asked, poking his head in and Gwen turned to him.
"Do you know where Lance is?" she demanded and Gwaine looked taken aback and looked to Merlin, an indescribable look on his face before it closed off and his eyes slid away from him, looking almost guilty.
"No, not at this moment," the other man said, shifting from one foot to the other and Gwen's eyes narrowed.
"I'll find him," she said, turning back to Merlin, "he won't be hiding for long, I promise."
"Thanks Gwen," he said, not sure Lance was safe now that she was after him.
"We should get going," Gwaine spoke up again, "you and Elyan have appointments." Gwen sighed deeply and stood before reaching forward and squeezing Merlin's hand and winking at him.
"I'll see you later," she said and followed Gwaine out of the room and Merlin leaned back in the bed and picked up his book once again.
"Are you ready to go?" a voice had Merlin looking up from tying his shoes the next day to find Lance there, his body language stiff and awkward as he looked anywhere but at Merlin.
"Yeah," he said, standing and picking up his small bag of things he had accumulated over the days he had been in infirmary and followed the other man out of the room, saying goodbye to the nurses and Gaius as they went. "Where were you?" he asked as they walked into the elevator and Lance shrugged.
"I had some things to take care of," he replied, standing on the other side of the elevator and staring straight ahead and Merlin fell silent.
Merlin entered his rooms, Lance close behind and collapsed on the couch and closed his eyes, though he was better, being sick had made him feel as he did when he first arrived. He had noticed Lancelot's cold shoulder and general quietness that was so rare with the other man. Before he had gotten sick, Lance had never shut up. Now though, now he had barely said a word to Merlin since picking him up from the infirmary ten minutes ago. He hadn't seen Lance at all the day before, though Gaius and every nurse he saw said that the other man hadn't left his side since he had become sick. Gaius refused to tell what had cured him in the end but the way Lance was reacting to him and the way that Gaius looked at him, he knew that it had something to do with magic.
"Hungry?" Lance's voice asked, making him jump.
"No, thank you," Merlin replied and watched as Lance stood across the room, as if trying not to fidget. "I think I'll lay down," Merlin said standing, swaying a bit before standing straight, surprised and a bit hurt when Lance didn't rush to help him.
"All right, I'll come get you when dinner arrives," Lance said and turned away as Merlin made his way down the hall to his room. Merlin collapsed onto his bed and closed his eyes against tears that threatened to fall, feeling that he had lost his only friend and ally in this place.
