Resurgence - Chapter Ten
Author: Milady Dragon
28 January 5193 (Earth Standard Date)
Stormcage Prison
Merlin hated the Stormcage.
He'd been, several times, when his mother had been incarcerated there. He'd had to be careful; there had been an earlier version of her hadn't had him yet, and he couldn't risk giving away any spoilers by seeing her before his time.
It hadn't helped that she'd been in Stormcage for killing his, Merlin's, own father, even though she'd been innocent. River had gone willingly, in order to protect her husband from forces that had wanted to destroy him. It still bothered Merlin that the Doctor had let her do it, but then for the longest time his Dad hadn't even known that he was supposed to have been the one that River had murdered in cold blood.
Merlin might have been part Time Lord, but he absolutely hated time travel, too used to walking the slow path through his own life to be happy with living out of synch with his family.
Today, though, he wasn't alone, and he wasn't there to see the mother who'd been the only one ever to escape from Stormcage; in fact, River was with him, as was Arthur, and they were there to see someone very different.
The guard looked at River as if she was going to eat him, and Merlin's mother winked at him saucily, as if daring him to say something. The man swallowed hard, and it was all Merlin could do not to roll his eyes. Yes, he could understand her wanting to tease them; after all, they hadn't been able to keep her in her cell, the only reason River had for hanging around was that she wanted to protect the Doctor. It had been the Doctor who'd taken her away ninety-five percent of the time, and no one even realised it. Or it was her stolen Vortex Manipulator, which she'd kept in her cell and no one had been able to find it.
Security had gotten a lot better since his mother had been released. Which was a good thing, or else Merlin would have had the woman they were visiting placed somewhere else.
It didn't hurt that no one could keep River Song where she didn't want to be.
They'd tried to take Excalibur away from Arthur. His mate had laughed at that, because no one could take his magical sword without Arthur's permission, and once he'd explained that he'd been able to keep it. It gave Merlin a feeling of security, more than his magic ever would.
River had handed over her blaster without complaint, though. Honestly, she didn't need it to be perfectly dangerous.
Merlin himself wasn't armed, but he had his magic, which made him his own category of dangerous.
The guard who'd been assigned to show them to the prisoner's cell shied away from River slightly, although Merlin didn't know why. He was far too young to have been a guard at Stormcage while his mother had been there. Perhaps the name River Song held a sort of power over them all? It was most likely a story told to scare new personnel…
"Has she caused any sort of trouble?" Arthur asked calmly.
It was a blatant attempt to get the guard to relax, and it seemed to work. "No, not at all, Sir. She's been quiet as a lamb."
"Any visitors?"
"None at all."
Not that Merlin expected the prisoner to have had any. Once the plan at the Library had failed, HYDRA would have left her to her own devices. They hadn't found any sort of suicide capsules or devices on her when she'd been captured, so the wizard doubted she'd even considered a chance that their plan wouldn't have succeeded.
The curving, wide corridor was lined with cells along one side, the other bare metal. The lighting glared against the exposed pipes in the ceiling and the smooth surface of the floor, and the lightning of the ever-present storm outside strobed from the windows of the various cells as they passed. It was obviously a prison, not built for comfort.
The guard stopped before one of the closed cells. "Here we are."
Merlin stepped up to the bars to regard the woman within. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, highlighting a round face and large, dark eyes. She was attractive, even in the prison-issue coveralls, and she was sitting on the bed, turning when she realised someone was there to see her.
The wizard barely concealed his shiver at the insanity in those eyes.
Lucy Cole had been one of his most promising students. Her gift had been in weather magic, but she'd shown aptitude in other disciplines. She might have, one day, even come close to equalling Merlin in power.
But Lucy had asked too many questions that should never have been answered, and she'd turned to dark magic in order to resurrect the man she'd loved in a previous life.
The evil, insane Time Lord known as the Master.
To be honest, Merlin hadn't really known all that much about the Master; no one had wanted to really talk about him, and now that the wizard knew about the Time Lord he could understand why. From what his father had claimed, the Master had once been a childhood friend, a fellow student at the Prydonian Academy, but he'd been slowly going insane from the moment he'd been shown the Untempered Schism, and had eventually snapped and had become a renegade.
The Master had been responsible for a lot of death and destruction. He'd tortured and killed his Granddad Jack for a solid year. Merlin felt that Ianto had been in the right to fulfil his Vow of Vengeance against him for what he'd done.
Apparently, his Dad's former incarnation hadn't, and it had led to a lot of bad feeling between the three of them. Merlin was glad he'd never met this Tenth version of his father, because he would have given him a piece of his mind.
Lucy's lips curled upward into a sly smile. "Visitors? What brings you here?" Her eyes were for Merlin only; she seemed to completely disregard both Arthur and River.
Merlin didn't want to be there, but there was no choice. "We're here to ask you some questions…about HYDRA."
"I don't know what you're talking about," the woman denied. She stood, slowly walking toward the bars of the cell. Her eyes darted toward Arthur, giving Merlin's mate a flirty wink. Arthur ignored it completely.
The she noticed River.
Lucy's jaw dropped slightly, and then her eyes narrowed, and she laughed. "And you're so ready to condemn me for trying to raise my Harry?"
Of course, Lucy would be able to see the magic. Merlin should have realised it before now.
Truth to tell, as much as Merlin loved having his mother back, the magic he'd had to use to do it had been created through the deaths of millions of Vashta Nerada. It should never have been utilised, but Merlin hadn't had a choice really. He'd tried to take the magic into himself and to share some of it with Phillip, but that had just overloaded the delicate balance of magic and GH325 in his uncle's cells, nearly killing him. Merlin hadn't been able to hold the rest, and it had to go somewhere.
It had gone into the body of his mother, bringing River back to life.
Merlin couldn't regret it. Even though there would always be that little sliver of darkness within him for actually doing it. And he had no idea just what sort of repercussions there would be because of what he'd done.
And there would be. He had no doubt of that. It was the nature of magic, for there to be consequences for what he'd done, even though it had been done with the best of intentions.
River had been staying around, as well, when before she wouldn't have hesitated in leaving after a couple of weeks. Merlin was pitifully grateful that his mother wanted to be there, and he'd treasure this time for as long as it lasted.
"I'm not the one who was responsible for the deaths of all of those Vashta Nerada," Merlin reminded her sharply.
Lucy simply shrugged, as if it wasn't a big deal.
"Open the cell, please," Arthur requested of the guard.
The man looked uncertain. "You can't go in there with a weapon…"
Merlin's mate rolled his eyes. "This is Excalibur, and no one can take it from me. The sword won't let them."
Now the guard's expression turned dubious, but before he could once again put his foot in it and insult Arthur further, River stepped in.
"You do know who the Once and Future King is, don't you?" she asked sweetly. "I'm certain you might have read about him in school…if you went to school, that is?"
The guard bristled at her insinuation, and this time it was Merlin getting between their guide and a member of his family. "Open the door, please," he said. "You know Arthur wouldn't have been able to bring Excalibur in here without the permission of the warden."
He was trying to sound logical and calm, and it must have worked because the guard keyed the cell door open.
Merlin thanked the guard, then said, "We'll call if we need anything."
The guard nodded and, once the three of them were in the cell with Lucy, shut and re-locked the door. Merlin didn't have to turn around to know that they were being left alone with the prisoner; the guard's rather heavy footsteps receded into the distance as he headed back to the control centre.
Lucy sat back on the bunk, leaning back against the wall, pulling her legs up into the bed and tucking her feet under her thighs. "So, you wanted to ask me questions about something I don't know anything about?" Her words were haughty, as if they were the prisoners and she wasn't.
"Ms Cole," Arthur began.
Only to be interrupted by, "Mrs Saxon."
Arthur's lip curled up slightly in a superior sneer. "Legally, it's Lucy Cole. So, Ms Cole…we know you were attempting to resurrect the Master for HYDRA, so there's no need to deny it. What we want to know is, where are your compatriots and how deeply do your actual plans go?"
Lucy gave him a smile that wasn't quite as superior as Arthur's expression, but then Arthur had been the King of Albion at one point, and no one could out-superior him. "I'm afraid you've wasted your time. I don't have any idea what you're talking about."
"You're lying," River said bluntly. "We have enough evidence that HYDRA exists. We know you were planning on bringing back the Master for them. Now," she stepped right into Lucy's personal space, looming over the prisoner, her face implacable, "you're going to tell us everything you know. Contacts, places…everything."
Lucy didn't look at all intimidated, which Merlin thought was a really big mistake. He was River's son, and he was intimidated.
"You do know what Merlin did, don't you?" Lucy taunted. "All that death magic…and here you are, standing here, threatening me." She laughed, a thin echo of madness in it. "I can see it…he might have taken my magic away, but I can still see it, the darkness of it, just under your skin…waiting to erupt free. It's only going to be a matter of time…"
It was all Merlin could do not to flinch. Of course, his mother knew what he'd done. Merlin would have to live with the knowledge of that for the rest of his life.
He also had to live with stripping Lucy of her magic, although it was the only thing he could have done under the circumstances. The spell involved had been powerful and borderline dark in its own way, but no place would have been able to hold her if he'd allowed her to be locked away with the magic she'd had. They simply couldn't risk her getting away, not with the knowledge that she'd seen in the Darkhold.
River's lips curved up into a cruel smirk. "See, what you don't understand is that this darkness has always been a part of me. I'm just aware it's there and know how to use it when I need to."
"Mum," Merlin warned.
Instantly, the wizard realised he'd made a mistake giving Lucy that particular piece of information.
Lucy's eyes went wide, and she looked extremely pleased. "The infamous River Song? Oh, this is delicious! I should have guessed who you were."
"If you think that's delicious," River snarled, "then maybe you should see how this tastes."
Merlin had no idea where his mother had hidden the gun that suddenly appeared in her hand, and he really didn't want to know.
The tiny, snub-nosed blaster was aimed directly between Lucy's eyes, and the woman went a little cross-eyed trying to focus on it.
He should have been doing something about that gun, but Merlin found himself stepping back and letting his mother handle things. Arthur seemed to have the same opinion; his mate stood there, arms folded over his chest, watching River with stern features that belied the humour dancing in his blue eyes.
Arthur must have realised that River would pull something. Merlin wondered when he'd gotten to know Merlin's own mother better than Merlin did.
"You see," River mused, as if it was just another day of the week, "my sons would have a problem with using whatever means necessary to get the information out of you. Me, on the other hand, I really don't care as long as you tell us what you know. After all, you tortured my son, and my friend, and as far as I'm concerned you don't deserve any sort of basic courtesy. Like not beating the shit out of an unarmed prisoner. Or putting a stream of ions through various parts of your body, just to hear you scream, like Phillip screamed."
Merlin was aware that his mother hadn't been the same River that was in the Library's Data Core. She wouldn't have witnessed Phillip being under the mind probe like her data ghost had. However, she knew the story, and understood what Phillip had gone through, and the Doctor had to have mentioned the screaming. It wasn't like it was something his Dad could have easily forgotten.
"Or maybe we should bring in a mind probe," Arthur suggested, "so she knows what it feels like."
The wizard himself had also been subjected to the mind probe, and all he could recall was the memory of pain. He had, however, heard Phillip screaming from where he, himself, had been trapped within the Data Core, and he couldn't help the shiver that travelled down his spine.
Arthur must have noticed, because he pressed his shoulder against Merlin's offering some comfort, and then drew away, giving Lucy what Merlin called his "Royal Prat" stare.
Lucy laughed.
It was just a little bit frightening.
"Do whatever you like," she taunted. "You can even kill me, and I'll just come back. I'll just reincarnate again, and I'll come and hunt you all down and get what's mine back."
"Are you so sure of that?" Arthur taunted right back. "Are you so sure you'll simply reincarnate with all your memories intact?"
It was something Merlin wanted to know, as well. The only people who seemed to remember any past lives were either members of his family or affiliated with the Jones clan. How had a group of people, wholly unrelated to any of them, come back with all of their memories?
Something out there was bringing back these former lives, and it was something Merlin needed to find out about. As well as how HYDRA even could figure out who was who in the first place, like they had with Suzie Costello.
And he was positive that Lucy knew all about it.
She was magic, and it could have only been an act of magic that would have been able to reveal just what soul belonged to who, and to bring those ancient personalities back to the forefront of memory. Merlin would have been willing to bet much of his mate's horde that it had been Lucy herself who, if not coming up with the very ceremonies to do just that, had been one of the major players in the original casting.
Lucy had that superior look back on her pretty face. "I'll always come back," she boasted. "Nothing you can do will stop me from reincarnating. And, when I do, I'll get the Darkhold and bring my Harry back."
Merlin snorted. "You'll never get the Darkhold again."
"You won't be able to hide it from me forever!" Lucy shouted. For the first time in this interview, she looked ready to attack, and it was only River's mini blaster that was keeping her from jumping at Merlin.
"We can," Merlin averred. "After we retrieved it, we put it in the one place you'll never be able to reach it. We tossed it into the heart of a sun."
It really had been a brilliant idea, one that Merlin wished he'd come up with. Everything that had happened at the Library could have been avoided if he'd just gotten rid of the damned thing the moment he'd started feeling the pull to use it.
But then, if he'd done that, he never would have gotten his mother back. And River had seemed very content to hang around the family for a while this time.
With that pronouncement, Lucy screamed. She jerked forward, hands outstretched, fingers curled into claws. She didn't manage to get past the blaster, however, and River used it to force her back onto the bunk, the round barrel pressing deeply into the crazed woman's forehead.
It was going to leave a bruise, but Lucy didn't seem to even notice.
She tried to launch herself at Merlin once again, and this time Arthur had Excalibur out of its sheath and resting against Lucy's throat in one, smooth, movement. The combination of high-tech gun and magical sword had the woman pushed against the wall, breathing heavily and glaring at Merlin as if the sheer hatred in her eyes would burn him up where he stood.
Words in the language of magic spilled from her lips, but they had no effect; if she'd had even the smallest modicum of her power left, Merlin would have been in serious pain from the curses she was trying to cast upon him.
Frustration twisted her features, and Lucy slumped backward, sliding along Excalibur's blade just enough that the preternaturally sharp sword cut a thin line along the delicate skin of her neck. Arthur pulled the weapon back out of the way, sheathing it in one, smooth movement.
Lucy didn't even seem to notice that she'd been wounded, bright red blood pearling along the small cut.
Merlin leaned forward, pressing his advantage. "There are spells that prevent a soul from moving on," he murmured. He knew that for a fact; it had been one such spell that had prevented Arthur from reincarnating until he'd been set free from it, even if Merlin had cast it by complete and utter accident. "It wouldn't be hard to bind your soul to your body, so that you wouldn't even have death to escape from your punishment. Believe me, Lucy…having your magic taken away and your plans thwarted are the least of your concerns at this moment."
At that, Lucy went pale. "You wouldn't dare!"
"If it meant I'd be saving my family, I'd dare to do anything."
The woman looked absolutely defeated.
Merlin didn't feel at all sorry for her.