Sorry for the lack of updates. School is crazy. This one is a bit short, but I figure it's better than nothing.

Merlin sits beside Arthur at the round table in Arthur's dining room. His left hand rests on the tabletop, showing the dark band that he's had Arthur redraw on every morning for the past two weeks. It never ceases to make his lips twitch up in a smile every time he sees it. Their official wedding rings, they've decided, will be exchanged during their legal marriage. The date for that, however, is yet to be determined. Merlin can only hope it'll be sooner rather than later, but with everything that's going on he doubts it. It's hard enough finding time to simply exchange an embrace with Arthur, let alone disappear for a couple of hours to get married. Besides, they'd have to wait until Arthur legally divorces Gwen before they can be wedded in the eyes of the law.

He's brought back to the situation in front of him once he hears his husband's voice, hushing the low level conversations around them. All around the table sit individual members of the drug ring with the exact same intentions as Arthur: to be free from Uther and to live their own lives free of the illegal crap they've been put up with for years.

"The first priority will be to get rid of Mordred," Arthur clearly says once everyone is settled and quiet. His injuries are healing nicely; there are only a few shadows of yellow along his cheekbones and chest with only a minimal bit of pain that accompanies movement. (Merlin thinks. He still watches Arthur shoot up at least once a day, but the amount he loads into the syringe is diminishing daily.)

Morgana laughs. "And how do you propose that?" She sits directly to Arthur's left around the circular table looking as smug as ever. She's been helpful these past few weeks, but sometimes Merlin gets the feeling that she's up to no good.

Arthur's eyes narrow. "Thank you, Morgana, for allowing me to segway into that." He clears his throat and shifts his weight in his seat. "We have a chapter meeting on Saturday. I'll shoot him after it's over, once everyone is cleared out and it's just us, him, and my father."

The room grows silent. Merlin's hand tightens on the tabletop. Arthur had plans to actually kill someone, to take a life. And he spoke so casually of it! Merlin abruptly meets Arthur's eyes, where he can see how completely unsure Arthur actually is about the situation. There's fear buried deep down. As far as Merlin knows, Arthur's never had the blood of another man on his hands. Sure, he's beaten the shit out of several rival ring members, but he'd never killed anyone before. The fact that Arthur's proposing it now says something serious about his intentions.

"Arthur, you can't be serious, mate," Leon finally says, breaking the silence at last. "You can't just walk up and shoot someone point blank."

Elyan, whom Arthur has told Merlin is Gwen's brother, stands up. "Sir, in all honesty I think it would be -"

Arthur holds up a hand and the room falls silent again. Elyan takes his seat again as Arthur takes his place, full of newfound confidence that Merlin can sense is every bit forced. "This needs to be done. If we take out Mordred, we take out Uther's right hand. Without him, there will be no one to hold up the ring. Uther won't have the power or strength to keep dealing and all of us will finally be able to go about our own ways."

It sounds almost too good to be true, that someone could kill another and have all their troubles erased. Merlin has a persistent sinking feeling that this will not end well. He takes a deep, steadying breath and leans back. This is something he needs to talk with Arthur about. He hopes that the man can see the possibilities and consequences that can arise from a brash action like this. But Arthur's a stubborn man. There probably won't be anything that can change his mind.

"And what about Uther?" Morgana pipes up. "Surely you don't think he'll just sit back and watch you murder one of his top recruits." And there's that smug look again, the one that Merlin would love to smack right off her face.

A fleeting look of panic flashes across Arthur's exterior. After a long moment of silence, he replies with, "Someone will have to restrain him, make sure he doesn't have any weapons-"

Suddenly a knock penetrates through the room. It's loud and sharp, full of force. Arthur glances at Merlin, who instantly gets the idea that he's meant to go and answer it. Like the obedient devotee to his husband as he is, Merlin excuses himself from the table. The knocking is persistent even as Merlin approaches the door; although he doubts Arthur would hear it over the ruckus that's erupted in the other room.

Merlin apprehensively looks through the peephole. Standing in the hallway is a man with dark hair and piercing blue eyes against strikingly pale skin. Immediately Merlin gets an uneasy feeling that heightens as he unlocks and opens the door.

"Can I help you?" Merlin asks. He keeps the door mostly closed, thus concealing the interior of the flat from the mysterious visitor. Arthur's voice can easily be heard in the background as he goes on, which is extremely concerning since they are discussing a murder.

The man, who looks even younger now that Merlin's face to face with him, weakly smiles at Merlin. "Yes, I was hoping to speak with Dr. Pendragon. I have urgent news regarding his father."

Merlin shifts the door an inch closer to being shut. "He's currently busy, but I'll pass it along to him if you tell me." He meets the man's eyes for the first time, and it sends shivers up his spine.

"He's dead."

"I'm sorry, I must have misheard you," Merlin quickly says, shaking his head. "It sounded as if you just said that his father is dead."

The man shakes his head. "You heard me correctly. Uther is dead, killed by a rival named Odin just a few hours ago." While Merlin gawks, he continues," And I'd appreciate it if you'd tell his son that I'm looking to step up into his father's former position. You are his boyfriend, are you not?"

Before Merlin can reply, a hand firmly presses to his side.

Arthur clears his throat to assert his authority, and Merlin shrinks back into his husband. "Mordred," Arthur greets in a monotone voice. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Your father," Mordred smoothly says, expression stoic and unchanging. "He's dead."

Arthur freezes for a moment. His grip on Merlin's hip tightens. "And I'm supposed to believe that?" Merlin swears he can hear Arthur's breath hitch.

Mordred nods. "Of course. Would you have any reason not to?"

Merlin glances up at Arthur, who's face is blank and emotionless per usual. Behind it all, he can see that Arthur isn't completely unaffected by this turn of events. Discreetly, he wraps his arm around Arthur's waist and gently rubs his side with the smallest of movements.

Silence stretches on as Arthur and Mordred stare at each other in a silent competition. Finally, Arthur breaks the stretch with, "Why are you telling me this?"

Mordred's perfect face stretches into a smile that sends shivers up Merlin's spine. "I came because I want you to know that I'm going to be the one to replace him."

Merlin can hear the gears turning in Arthur's head. If he takes over his own father's position, it would be all too easy to just disband it. Nobody would have to get hurt, he wouldn't have to kill anyone or do anything else illegal. It would be simple and clean. However, if Mordred took over… Well, it would probably be a bloodbath.

"Let the best man win," Arthur utters in a smooth, unchanging voice. "You're going to need all the luck you can get, Mordred." With that, Arthur slams the door.

Before Merlin can offer any words of consultation, Arthur shakes his head and walks back into the dining room to his friends and gets back down to business, stoic and emotionless as ever.

Merlin stands over the kitchen sink, washing the dozen or so wine glasses left over from the meeting. He stares blankly out of the window over the sink down at the street below as his hands perform the simple task, thus leaving his mind to wander. He knows Arthur is upset deep down after hearing of the day's news - who wouldn't be? - but he also knows Arthur is too proud to admit it. He doesn't want to upset Arthur's pride by showering him in affection, yet Merlin knows that's what Arthur needs right now whether he likes it or not.

So Merlin dries his hands on the dish towel and sets aside the glass in his hands with the intention of soothing his husband.

"Honey," Merlin says as he enters the dining room. He begins to roll the sleeve up Arthur's arm to prep for the action he knows will soon follow such a stressful, dark meeting coupled with an even worse bout of bad news. It's not his idea way for Arthur to cope, but at the moment he sees no other alternative.

Arthur gently pulls his arm away from Merlin and places his face into his palms. From the way Arthur refused the one substance he depends so heavily on, Merlin can tell it's very serious. Despite his negative feelings towards Uther, Merlin can tell Arthur is even more upset than he could have possibly imagined.

Merlin rubs large circles across Arthur's shoulder blades with the heel of his hand. He doesn't bother with offering words of comfort; just being together right now he feels is enough. He rests his cheek on the top of Arthur's head, placing a kiss on top of his soft hair after just a moment.

Wordlessly, Arthur pulls Merlin down into his lap. The man's arms wrap around Merlin's waist and his face nuzzles into the crook of Merlin's neck. "I'm scared," Arthur whispers so softly that Merlin almost misses it. "He's going to kill me. Mordred. I'm so, so scared."

Merlin presses a reassuring hand to the back of Arthur's neck and strokes it in long motions. Those words break Merlin's heart, and there's almost nothing he can possibly do about it. He can't make the pain go away, and he can't do anything to alleviate the effects of it indefinitely. There's little he can do other than simply give Arthur as much love as he can possibly muster. So that's what he's doing now as he leaves small kisses on Arthur's smooth neck and tell him he loves him.

An hour passes with the two of them curled up into each other, Merlin comforting a vulnerable Arthur. The latter leaves wet tear stains on Merlin's shirt when he finally pulls away. It breaks Merlin's heart even more to see the redness in Arthur's eyes and how weak it makes him look - so unlike how he normally is.

"I'll be here for you no matter what," Merlin whispers. "I won't leave your side, no matter what happens. I won't let anything hurt you"

Arthur tightens his arms around Merlin's waist while letting out a long, drawn out sob that leaves Merlin speechless. It breaks his heart a little more just to hear it.

"He'll kill you too,"Arthur replies, voice shaky and wavering. "He won't let you get away unscathed. My dad - he's - fuck it." He abruptly stands up, forcing Merlin to fall from his lap. The man swipes a quick hand across his eyes to whisk away any stray tears - although the redness and puffiness around his eyes remain - and runs a hand through his already disheveled hair. The appearance of Arthur makes him seem even crazier when he says, "We're going to America. Tonight. Get away from all of this"

Merlin blinks in surprise. America? Tonight? There's no way. Both of them have jobs. Both of them have rent and Merlin has his mother… He can't leave. So Merlin pulls himself off of the floor and takes Arthur's hands in his. Gently, he leads the man to their bedroom and sits him down on the bed to talk some sense into him.

Kneeling down to be eye level with his husband, he says, "Arthur. We can't leave. What about your job? Or mine? Where would we live? You know they'll follow us. Mordred will make sure of that." Merlin pushes some hair from Arthur's face and tucks it back into place with a small smile. "I know today is really bad, but try to relax, okay? I'll get us some wine, you just lay back and close your eyes."

Arthur slowly nods his head and does as he's told. However, when Merlin returns with the drinks, he finds quite a different picture. Arthur is curled up in the fetal position with his knees pulled up to his chest, quietly sobbing into his pillow. The sight is nearly enough to bring tears to Merlin's own eyes. He places the glasses on the dresser, abandoning them indefinitely, and spoons his body around Arthur's. They lay there once again for what feels like hours as Arthur's sobs turn into sniffles and eventually into silence. Merlin doesn't move until he feels Arthur's breathing slow and become deeper to signal his sleep.

He can only begin to imagine how Arthur must be feeling. On one hand, he just lost his father. On the other, his life just became that much more dangerous. It's an awful combination that can't yield to much good. Merlin desperately wishes he could do something to make it better for his husband, however there doesn't seem to be much of an alternative other than just being there for him. He collects the wine glasses to wash and leaves his husband to his own private thoughts and sleep.