This one goes out to Sahba (who wanted a feverish, delirious Merlin) and Daily-Chan (who wanted a story featuring Leon, Gwaine, and Lancelot). So, thanks a bunch for the ideas guys, and I sure hope you liked what I did.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted, and favorited last chapter. I cannot thank you guys enough.

I am slowly getting through the prompts, I promise yours is coming, and keep on reading :)

Leave me a comment if you can, and remember if I owned Merlin there would have been a hell of a lot more Merlin whump.

Bye!


"I'm actually surprised Arthur let you go," Gwaine commented offhandedly, maneuvering his horse around a downed tree.

"He doesn't own me," Merlin retorted sneezing. A chill ran through him, and he barely kept a shiver at bay. "I'm his servant not his slave." He sneezed twice more, followed by a rattling, deep cough that left his chest aching.

"Are you okay?" Leon questioned worriedly, slowing his horse down so he could keep up with Merlin's mare's slower pace.

"Fine," Merlin replied coughing again, unable to stop the second shiver from wracking his body. "It's just a cold."

"Maybe I should have said 'I'm surprised Gaius let you out.'" Gwaine glanced back at Merlin, concern written all over his face. The young warlock merely waved his hand, indicating he was fine, but the act was pretty much useless when he sneezed three more times, rapid fire, leaving him feeling a little dizzy and his head pounding.

"We should stop," Leon suggested already bringing his steed to a stop, ignoring Merlin's weak protests. "We're nowhere near Camelot, we can't get Gaius here if you fall off your horse…"

"We're stopping," Gwaine finished bluntly, already dismounting his horse.

"Just until you look as if you aren't about to fall off your horse," Leon stated sympathetically, jumping down and leading his horse over to a patch of grass. Instead of following, Gwaine hovered near Merlin's horse, obviously waiting for the younger man to fall off or something.

"This is really unnecessary," he grumbled dismounting his horse. "I'm fine." The moment his feet touched ground, Merlin began to wobble and it was only Gwaine's quick reflexes that stopped him from toppling over.

"You were saying," the knight stated, deadpan, and helped Merlin over to the downed tree, slowly lowering him on it. "Stay here," Gwaine half-heartedly ordered and walked away, helping Leon tend to the horses.

Merlin tried to push himself to his feet, but another wave of dizziness rushed over him and he sank back down. He leaned forward, breathing through the dizzy spell, trying to ignore the way his head began pounding again.

He jumped when he felt a hand settle on his forehead, a familiar voice saying, "Maybe you should have stayed behind."

"What?" Merlin looked up, his eyes widening when he spotted Lancelot hovering over him. "L-Lancelot? How…?"

"I'm not really here, Merlin," Lancelot stated, his hand leaving Merlin's head so he could sit next to the younger man. "You have a fever."

"B-but I felt fine this morning," Merlin stammered around a cough. Actually, he was lying, he had felt like complete shit that morning, but he thought if he drained one of Gaius' potions for colds he'd be good to go, and he would be, once the potion kicked in.

"It's not a cold, Merlin," Lancelot commented softly, "and I think you should let Leon and Gwaine take care of you, just until you're strong enough to ride."

"…should get Gaius." A new hand landed on his forehead, causing Merlin to jump and Lancelot to vanish. Merlin lifted his head, very much aware of the continued pounding and dizziness, eyes settling on Leon and Gwaine hovering over him, much like Lancelot had been doing mere moments beforehand.

"We're not even close to Camelot," Leon reminded Gwaine, his voice soft, blue eyes filled with worry.

"Merlin," Gwaine started slowly, after a beat, probably thinking about what Leon had just said. "Did you pack any medicine? Anything to help us, you know, if one of us ended up sick?"

"M-my bag," Merlin croaked, his eyelids suddenly heavy. "C-check my bag." He felt a pair of hands catch him as he fell forward, a warm body against his shuddering, almost freezing one, and he heard a voice murmur, "Go check."

"You're warm," Merlin muttered burrowing his head into the side of someone's neck.

"So are you," Gwaine's voice retorted, trying and failing to make a joke. "Burning up actually."

"L-liar, I'm cold," Merlin whined, albeit very manly mind you, and tried to burrow deeper into Gwaine's chest. The knight was just so warm, and he knew he should probably get up, prove to Leon and Gwaine (and Lancelot) that he was, in fact, fine, but he just couldn't find the strength.

"Which one?" Leon had returned, Merlin could hear him crouch down in front of Gwaine. There was the sound of glass bottles knocking into each other as the two, no doubt, began digging through Merlin's bag.

"Merlin, you need to tell them which one," Lancelot's voice suddenly said, right in Merlin's ear, causing the younger man to jump. His movement startled Gwaine, but the knight recovered quicker, figured it was another shiver, and gently ran his fingers through Merlin's hair, mumbling words of comfort.

"I-I don't…" Merlin mumbled but still managed to peel his eyes open, lifting his shaking hands to his bag. He pulled out a green liquid, followed by a blue, and whispered, "This two…" he coughed, cutting himself off, rubbing his aching chest. He tried to speak again, but it only led to more painful coughing, so Merlin stopped trying and just indicated with his hand.

"Okay," Leon replied nodding, understanding replacing the worry in his eyes. He fiddled with the green liquid's stopper, managing to get it open, but before he could hand over the potion, Merlin sneezed again. Something seemed to rip from him, and a sudden crack echoed through the forest, all three men freezing.

"What was that?" Leon and Gwaine said together.

"Merlin, what did you do?" Lancelot asked softly, worriedly. Merlin couldn't help feeling worried, too. Did he just do accidental magic?

"I'll check it out," Leon volunteered, handing both vials over to Gwaine. "Keep an eye on him." The blond nodded at Merlin before he stood and followed the sound. Merlin tried to sit up, tried to follow the knight's path, but Gwaine's arm blocked his view as he tried to give the warlock the green potion.

"What does this do?" Gwaine asked curiously, getting Merlin's attention.

"Cough suppressor," Merlin replied still worried about Leon, but he still took the vial from Gwaine and, with still shaking hands, he managed to get most of the potion down his throat. Only to cough it back up a few moments later.

"It's okay," Gwaine murmured helping Merlin turn on his side, running a soothing, callused hand across the back of the warlock's neck. "Let it out."

"S-should have s-started with blue," Merlin stammered, still on his side, most of his lanky body huddled up in Gwaine's lap. "Anti-nausea medicine," he answered the unasked question. "S-should have started with the b-blue."

"Are you okay?" Gwaine and Lancelot asked together.

"I-I'm fine," Merlin answered softly, but still made no effort to sit up.

"Are you feeling nauseas?" Gwaine questioned softly.

"I-I wasn't," Merlin murmured as a few more shivers wracked his body. And really he hadn't been, until he drank the cough medication. "Ugh, no more." He shook his head at the proffered anti-nausea medication; fairly certain it'd only make him vomit again.

"Do you need anything else?" Gwaine asked worriedly. "Perhaps a drink, something to eat…?"

"J-just sleep." As Merlin's eyes slipped closed again, he softly said, "Wake me when Leon gets back."

Merlin

Merlin awoke some time later to hushed voices and fingers running through his hair. He decided to concentrate on the soothing fingers, trying to ignore how hot he felt or that he was shaking. He felt a cough building up in his chest, and he tried to suppress it, but to no avail. It left his chest hurting and his head pounding.

"It's okay," he heard a familiar voice say above him. "You're going to be fine." Merlin merely grunted in reply, coughing again. The two hushed voices stopped speaking, the fingers vanishing as someone dropped down next to Merlin.

Already missing the soothing touch, Merlin forced his eyes open, Gwaine hovering over him, concern written all over his face. He helped Merlin sit up, propping the younger man against his chest, offering him a sip of water from his bota bag. The warlock hadn't realized how thirsty he was until the refreshing liquid trickled down his throat.

"I still say we should head back to Camelot," Leon muttered from above Gwaine and Merlin.

"Weren't you the one who said we were too far away? Plus, you said it was a branch falling," Gwaine replied softly, his chest vibrating against Merlin's face as he spoke. "It's probably just a rotten branch."

"It didn't look rotten," Leon argued exasperated. "I think there's a…"

"Don't say it," Gwaine snapped. "I swear if you say it I will run you through with my sword. We're not moving until Merlin is better do you understand me?"

"I don't want to believe it, either." Leon knelt next to Gwaine, his blue eyes pleading. "But we could be in danger, and I for one would rather move Merlin somewhere safe then to have us stay out in the open any longer."

"Leon's right," Lancelot said in Merlin's ear. "We both know that was you, but you really should be under Gaius' care."

"L-Leon's right," Merlin muttered trying and failing to sit up. "We should h-head back to Camelot…" A sneeze ripped from his body, and there was another crack, somewhere deep in the forest. Leon turned to Gwaine, his face clearly saying 'we're heading back.' With a sigh, the brunette knight reluctantly agreed.

Moving Merlin seemed to be easier said than done. The moment the younger man was standing, a wave of dizziness and weakness rolled through him, so severe that, had Gwaine not been holding him up, he would have collapsed in a heap back on the ground.

Leon made quick work rolling up the bedding Merlin had lain on. He tied them and Merlin's horse to his, and then helped Gwaine get Merlin on the third horse. The brunette knight proceeded to get on, behind Merlin, and, making sure the warlock was secured, grabbed the reigns and the two knights began riding back towards Camelot.

"Why did we take this trip again?" Gwaine tried to joke, but once again failed. When no one answered him, he began chatting idly about nothing in particular, his dulcet tones sending Merlin back to sleep.

Merlin

When he woke up, his skin felt like it was on fire. For a moment, he actually thought Gwaine and Leon figured out he had broken the tree branches and Arthur had condemned him to death by burning at the stake. He tried to scream, it literally felt like flames were eating away his flesh, but he barely managed a croaked cry.

"It's alright," he heard a familiar voice say, soothing fingers running through his hair again. "You're alright. No one is hurting you." Whoever was talking to him continued to stroke his hair until he drifted off again.

He awoke a second time colder than before but this time to muffled voices. Someone arguing with someone else, another person trying to calm the louder of the two down, while a third voice softly hummed close to his head. He recognized the song, something Lancelot used to hum during hunting trips, and Merlin allowed the song to drag him back into darkness.

The third time, he actually felt relatively warm, but not fire hot. His head felt heavier than his body, his skin felt grimy and gross, and he coughed violently, but he had a feeling the worst was actually over.

Forcing heavy eyelids open, his vision blurred for a second before slowly bringing his room into view. He heard soft breathing to his left, a snore to his right, and thought for sure he spotted Lancelot standing in the doorway, but he blinked and his old friend was gone.

"I see you're awake," a familiar voice said from the corner, and Merlin was glad he was able to recognize it this time.

"How long have you been standing there?" Merlin croaked watching as Arthur came into view. Merlin would have to be blind to not notice the dark circles under his eyes or his messy hair and clothes, but the warlock chose to ignore that tidbit for the time being.

"Not long," the king replied with a shrug. Merlin gave him a skeptical look, one which Arthur returned with a small glare. He then sighed and said, "At least not as long as those two." He jerked his head to his right and then forward.

Slowly, so as not to bring back the dizziness or pounding, Merlin turned his head left then right, finding Leon and Gwaine dozing in chairs on either side of his bed. "How long have they been here?" he asked curiously, letting his blue eyes flick back to Arthur.

"Since they brought you back," Arthur replied suddenly a little worried.

"What?"

"Nothing," he murmured after a beat, shaking his head. "It's just been a trying three days for everyone."

"Wait? Three days?" How in the world had Merlin missed three days? He wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he was fairly certain it wasn't a good feeling. How much accidental magic could he have done in those three days? And if he had done any why wasn't Arthur tossing him in the dungeons right now?

"What do you remember from those three days?" Arthur asked carefully, eyeing Merlin cautiously.

The younger man nervously swallowed-hard to do when his throat was so try-and whispered, "Why? What did I do?"

"Nothing," Arthur answered hurriedly, obviously trying to reassure his servant. "It's just…" he ran a hand through his hair, trying to pick his words carefully, but finally shook his head and said, "You talk in your sleep."

"I… I what?"

"It was just mutters, nothing coherent." There was something Arthur wasn't telling him, but for the first time in his life Merlin just didn't want to know, so he let it go. Sensing the need for a change in subject, Arthur clapped his hands together and said, "Right, so I should let you rest, but I expect you to be ready to work Monday morning."

"That's four days, Arthur," Merlin stated confused, eyebrows furrowed. Arthur had never given him that many days off.

"Consider it a gift," the king responded with a small nod and left the room, softly closing the door behind him. Merlin laid awake for several minutes afterward, wondering what in the hell he could have said or did (and he prayed it wasn't magic) to get Arthur to act like that, but eventually his exhaustion won out and his thinking was put on hold as his eyes drooped closed.

As he sunk back into sleep, he was fairly certain he heard Lancelot say, "I'm glad you're alright, Merlin."