Merlin woke up and felt a warm body behind him one hand slung across his stomach and the other hand being run through his hair. His first and only explanation was that it was Arthur, and he relaxed into the warmth. Seconds later his eyes flew open when he started to realise what had happened the last hours and he tried to get away from the embrace, but he was being held back.

"Good, you're awake." Cenred said casually. "It was about time, it nearly took you an hour."

Merlin still put up a struggle against Cenred. He couldn't believe that he was out for that long, how long had it been since he was taken? Surely Arthur must've noticed that something was wrong, but why wasn't he here then to save him? Tears started to well up in Merlin's eyes. "Just tell me what it is what you want." Merlin said, feeling defeated. He turned his head slightly back to look at Cenred, and saw the man's eyes glistening with something. Pride, victory? Merlin wasn't sure.

"I wanted to kill you and by doing that killing your child, Pendragon's heir." Cenred explained, "But then you told me something interesting, you said the sex of the baby."

Merlin finally jerked free out of the hold as he felt Cenred's grip slipping. He jumped off the bed and went as far away from Cenred as he possibly could with his one leg chained, but Cenred just calmly stepped off the bed and walked towards him, simultaneously finishing his story.

"You see, I'm sure you are aware by now that we Escetirs don't like the Pendragons, but there's one thing we do like about the Pendragons and that is the Pendragon women. They are far more passionate and far fiercer than the men, I mean just look at your pathetic husband, he's a total joke for whole mankind." Cenred stopped at the end of the bed, leaning with his shoulder against the poster.

"Well anyways, I'm sure you're aware of his half-sister, Morgana. Not only is Morgana Arthur's half-sister, she's my wife's half-sister as well. And I'm sure it has not passed your attention that Morgana is a beautiful and fierce person - just like yourself, might I add. She has convinced me many times that she's on my side." Cenred smirk started to appear again. "Now if your child would be a boy he'd be not interesting to me, but a girl - a girl is far more convenient in this business. They'll appear innocent, they are sexy and most importantly; they get jobs done far more discreetly than men."

Merlin started to growl with every new sentence and narrowed his eyes. He only knew vaguely about Morgana, knowing that she left the house when she was only sixteen because she was fed up with Uther.

Cenred only laughed at all his actions and stood up straight, starting to walk towards Merlin again and closing the space between them. Merlin backed away, but soon found himself backed up in the corner with Cenred towering over him. One of Cenred's hands was put onto the wall, close to Merlin's head. "I've made an exception for a Pendragon family member before, I can make it again. I want your child."

"Never." Merlin answered, cradling his stomach.

"You will, even if I have to force you. With your child at my side I will not only have more power, but I will have power over Pendragon as well. He will bow to my will and I will control this city on my own at last." He grabbed Merlin's chin and forced him to look at him. Their lips just inches apart. "And you, you will do just fine as my sex slave."

Merlin's eyes grew wider and his breath caught in the back of his throat. He was feeling paralyzed, not able to move.

A distant noise that sounded much like a crash could be heard and both his as Cenred's eyes flickered to the door. Merlin wanted to yell but Cenred slapped an hand over it and then reached his other hand around his back, only to pull out the gun he used earlier when Merlin was tied up. Cenred smirked, removing the safety and pulling back the hammer of it. The click was loud in the now quiet room and Cenred looked into Merlin's eyes. "I think we got company."

Merlin's heart pounded heavily against his ribcage and nearly jumped out of it when two heavily armed men entered the room after a swift knock. The two men saw their boss and his guest in the corner of the room in a somewhat intimate position. "Sir. Pendragon and his men have entered the premises."

"Good. Why don't you give him a warm welcome?" Cenred smirked, dismissing the men with a jerk of his head.

Merlin's breath caught in the back of his throat the moment Cenred turned his head back and looked at him with a dark look in his eyes, he didn't know what Cenred would do to him now Arthur was here. Merlin's heart fluttered for a moment about the fact that his husband was here to save him, but at the same time it felt heavy with worry on how things could go. Gulping, he brought his hands up to Cenred's chest and tried to push him away. Unfortunally the man in front of him had the upper hand and moved closer.

Cenred whispered close to Merlin's ear, "I'm wondering- what will your husband's reaction be when he finds you in bed with another man?"

Merlin shook his head vehemently, trying once more to push the bigger man away. But like a curse, black dots were starting to invade his vision again with that movement. He couldn't believe how fragile he was at this moment, and all he wanted was to keep strong no matter what.

He was viciously dragged forward by Cenred and thrown onto his back on the bed. The chain rattling angrily with all the sudden movements.

Merlin groaned when Cenred threw him on the bed, his head started to throb heavily. He rolled to the side, hoping that that would relieve the throb, but Cenred pulled him right onto his back again, straddling Merlin on his legs and leaning down to capture Merlin's lips. Merlin tried to resist the kiss as best as he could, but he didn't stand a chance against the other man and his losing fight against the black spots.

There were gunshots fired somewhere downstairs and Merlin just hoped that Arthur would get to him soon.

Cenred pulled back, the same smug smirk back in place.

"P-please," Merlin pleaded. His attention was then brought to his stomach when he felt a small twitch, which seemed to grow stronger by the second. Something wasn't right, and Merlin knew it.

There were still shots being fired in the mansion and they appeared to be closer to the bedroom now, but Cenred didn't seemed to be fazed by them. He only had eye for Merlin and pinned Merlin's hands above his hands, feeling victorious in having the husband of his enemy in his possession. He saw Merlin's eyes starting to water and it only increased that feeling.

Merlin's stomach was now feeling like it was cramping and he panicked, he didn't know what was happening to him - to the baby. He panted, breathing in chocking sobs and wanting to bring his hands down to cradle his stomach, but Cenred still had a firm grip around them and was now starting to wrap his belt around his wrists.

"P-please, stop. S-something's w-wrong." Merlin whispered. "Oh, god."

Cenred bent down, nipping at the skin of Merlin's neck. He enjoyed those distressed sounds his captive made. "Mmm, yes the fact that you're still dressed is wrong." He murmured against the pale skin, bringing his hands beneath Merlin's shirt.

Merlin grunted, the pain had flared up with Cenred's touch. "N-no. S-stop!"

Merlin could feel the heavy cramp in his stomach building up to a level he had never experienced before, and the pain that came with it was almost unbearable. He cried, he knew now that there had to be something wrong with the baby. He couldn't lose her!

Breathing the choked sobs in and out was becoming to be a restricting factor and he willed himself to calm down, but there was just so much going on at once that it was a hopeless case. A gun being fired just outside the door made him jump out of his own misery for a moment and his half lidded eyes moved to the door. Cenred stilled as well and watched how the door burst open and the one he hated the most stood in the door frame; Arthur.

Anger was spewing from Arthur's eyes when he saw Cenred on top of his husband and he aimed his gun at Cenred's head, ready to fire. Gwaine and Leon appeared behind him, their firearms drawn and loaded.

Cenred knew that they were closing in on him and he pulled Merlin up from the bed, holding him in front of him as a human shield.

Merlin's half lidded eyed found Arthur's in an instant and he groaned loudly, bringing his bound hands towards his stomach, clutching it as best as he could. The pain was even more severe standing up and the blackness in front of his eyes had almost consumed him wholly.

"Give it up Cenred, all your men are dead." Arthur's voice broke through and Merlin wanted to concentrate with all his might on it, but it was impossible to focus with the soaring pain going through his stomach.

"That won't mean I give up so easily." Cenred snarled and he brought the hand with his gun to Merlin's stomach. "I could kill one," Cenred then brought the gun up to Merlin's head, "or I can kill them both. Your choice Pendragon."

Arthur strained his arm, supporting it with his other hand. His nostrils flaring. Gwaine and Leon fanned out and took each a side of Arthur, slowly creeping forward. It only made Cenred tighten his hold on the now barely conscious Merlin.

What Cenred didn't realise was that Merlin's head fell a little more sideways and it gave Arthur the perfect aim to shoot.

Cenred shook his head, eyeing the three men around him. "Ah, ah, a-ah." He tutted, "I wouldn't do tha–"

A shot - and then silence.

Merlin felt himself falling, not conscious enough to catch himself. He was preparing for the hard fall on the floor, but it never came. He was caught by strong arms and his husband's familiar scent immediately filled his nose. He felt save now.

More men of the Pendragon organisation gathered into the room and watched how Gwaine and Leon were dragging the Ganglord of the Eastern side of the city away by his arms; a gush of blood continued to stream out of the head wound, leaving a trail behind. Their eyes settled on their boss holding his husband in his arms, untying the belt from Merlin's wrists and tossing it to the side with a snarl. He started feeling for a pulse in Merlin's neck.

"No, you are not going to close your eyes. Merlin, open your eyes!" He shook him forcefully after only feeling a faint pulse. "Merlin! open. your. eyes!" He turned, holding his tears at bay. He would not be found crying in front of his men. "Get a car!"

Men scrambled over each other to carry out the task that has been given. Only Lancelot stayed behind and started to unlock the cuff on Merlin's ankle. He had snatched the key off Cenred's body before it was dragged away to a place where he would never be found again.

Just being alone with Lancelot, made Arthur lose his stern expression and he broke out in tears. He checked for a pulse again, and it was still there but Arthur became worried on how faint it was. Shaking his husband again and calling his name loudly made Merlin open his eyes halfway, groaning by the pain it gave him.

Arthur sighed in relief for both his husband's consciousness as well as hearing one of his men yell that the car was in front. Arthur quickly picked his husband up. "Merlin stay with me, you're going to be fine. Just stay awake." Arthur all but ran through the corridor, descended the stairs and rushed out the door towards the waiting car. As soon as they were inside the driver took off.

"We're almost at the hospital. Take deep breaths." Arthur instructed.

Merlin shook his head, gasping for air and a frown appearing. "Hurts." He grunted, clenching his jaws tightly onto each other.

Arthur brushed a stray of hair aside from Merlin's face. "Hold on, just two more minutes." Arthur felt Merlin's hand brush against his shirt a few times before he finally got a good grip on the fabric. He drew Arthur closer.

"Keep her safe." Was all he whispered before his eyes turned back into his head and the tight grip in Arthur's shirt loosened.

~oOoOo~

Merlin slowly became more conscious, but had nowhere enough energy to open his eyes, all he heard were two voices, and one of them was his husband's.

"- with the help of steroids we've managed to stop the labour for now."

"Oh thank god. So he and the baby will be fine?"

"So far they are fine, yes. But we just want to keep your husband here for a day, where we will keep checking both his as the baby's vitals every two hours. If everything's okay, he can go home in the morning."

"Thank you doctor."

Merlin then heard shuffling of feet, a door opening and closing and the legs of presumably a chair scraping on the floor. Merlin was just too tired to concentrate on it for any longer and let himself slip into oblivion again.

When Merlin woke for a second time a few hours later, he felt a hand touch his face and another hand was running through his hair. He heard his husband's voice softly murmuring small pleadings to him, begging him to wake up. His husband sounded like a broken shell of his former self and he felt Arthur place his head on his chest.

He put all his energy into opening his eyes, he just had to let his husband know that he was awake and okay. He just wanted to comfort his husband.

The first thing he noticed were his husband's blonde hair and with stuttering motions he brought his hand up to touch it, causing Arthur to immediately snap his head up and he stared into Merlin's blue eyes. "Oh thank god." He whispered, bending down to place multiple kisses on Merlin's lips.

"T-the baby." Merlin croaked out, raising himself from the pillow.

"She's fine." Arthur said with a smile on his face.

Back in the car, he was baffled when Merlin referred to their baby as being a girl. For a moment he thought that Merlin just used a random gender, but in the hospital it was confirmed that it would be indeed a girl.

Merlin seemed to relaxed a little bit after Arthur's reassurance and sank back into the pillow. "She is?"

Arthur bent forward, his hand softly caressing the small bump. "Yes. And you're going to be fine too, if you'll stay calm and keep resting." Arthur casted his eyes down, and his voice was just about a whisper, "While you were unconscious, you were quite stressed and giving the doctors some worries."

Merlin frowned. "I did?"

"Yes. Your blood pressure wouldn't go down and they were worried that you'd be slipping into a coma." His voice cracked and Arthur tried to cover it up, but Merlin heard it clearly. He extended his arm out from under the warmth of the blankets and placed it on Arthur's cheek.

"I'm fine now, and nothing will happen to us."