The pale headlights of each car on the road lit up a patch of sky, catching gleaming snowflakes as they drifted to the pavement. Tires crunched on the slick, ice-coated road, and the voices of the Patroni murmured softly to each passer. In the shadows of the road-side, by the tall wire-fence topped with barbed wire, two dark figures crouched, one watching the exchange intently, the other huddled close to his first's side, his small frame trembling. He tipped his head back to look up at the face of his companion.

"Cerdan?" His voice was soft and anxious.

"Shh." The larger of the two figures put an arm around his small companion's shoulder. "Not much further now. There'll be a warm place for us to sleep, I promise. But you have to be quiet a little longer and do exactly as I say." The boy nodded and shuffled closer to the taller person, blinking moisture from his watering eyes. Several meters away, the reflective traffic barrier rose, allowing the first of the two cars in line to pass. As the second pulled up, Cerdan leaned forward, and his eyes flashed in the darkness. A metal pipe on the bottom of the car disconnected and fell to the ground with a loud clang and screeched along the cement. The car pulled to an abrupt stop, and both the driver and the Patronus stepped out into the cold to inspect the damage. "Now!" Cerdan hissed, pulling the boy to his feet. The boy gripped Cerdan's hand tightly and both slipped through the gap between booth and fence, fleeing for shelter out of sight of the gate.

Just inside the neighborhood, the two figures crossed the street silently and flitted from shadow to shadow, staying close to the houses. At one small house close to the corner of the street, Cerdan led his companion up the steps and discreetly knocked on the door. The boy huddled close to him, beginning to shiver again. Cerdan rubbed his shoulders comfortingly. The door opened a crack.

"Just two of you?" a low voice asked. Cerdan nodded.

"We'll only stay the night. We're just passing through," he said. The man at the door nodded and glanced briefly down at the boy. Something in his face, obscured in the half-lighting of the doorway, shifted when he saw the young one shivering, and he stepped back a bit as if to let them in.

"I'm sorry," he said, pulling the door back again.

"What—" Cerdan's eyes darted to the man's face, and he reached out to stop the door, but it clicked abruptly shut. The man was gone. The boy was tugging nervously at his guardian's sleeve, and Cerdan turned sharply about. The crunch of boots on the street was all too clearly audible. Without a moment's hesitation the two figures set off down the street again. The approaching patrol took up the chase.

"Stop right there!" one of the guards shouted. Cerdan gripped the boy's hand tightly and sprinted for the corner. A gunshot rang out in the silent street. It was followed by a high pitched cry of pain. The boy stumbled. Cerdan snatched him up in his arms and darted around the corner into a gap between the houses. He pressed his back to the wall of one building and clutched the boy close to his chest.

"Alright. You're alright," he murmured softly, stroking the boy's hair. "Can you walk a little farther?" The boy blinked back tears fiercely and nodded, clutching the wounded arm. Cerdan set the boy on his feet and dropped to his knees, taking him by the shoulders. "Look at me," he ordered. "I'm going to lift you over the fence. I need you to stay in the shadows and run as far as you can. Find somewhere to hide, and call for help. Can you do that?" The boy nodded again. "Good boy." Cerdan squeezed his shoulders then swung him up over the fence and gently let him drop to the other side. "Now run!" The boy paused for the barest moment, his eyes wide and frightened as he looked back at Cerdan. "Run!" the man hissed sharply, and as the Patroni turned into the narrow passage between the houses, the pale lights on their guns glaring on Cerdan, the boy ran. A harsh word spoken in the ancient language sent two Patroni backwards to hit the wall with a sickening crunch. Only seconds later, a second gun report echoed through the street, and a body hit the ground. An eerie silence followed the report.

"Find the boy," one guard ordered. As one, the uniformed men moved out into the dark neighborhood, over the crunch of booted feet on the snow, the boy's light, quick footsteps went unheard.

"So, how soon are you leaving?" Gwen asked, looking back at Merlin as he caught up and fell into step with her.

"Two days after school ends," Merlin said cheerfully. "I haven't bought the plane tickets yet, but the prices look reasonable. Mum said she'd buy them as soon as her next paycheck comes in." He finished a bit breathlessly, adjusting his scarf and slacking his pace a bit.

"That's great! So you'll be back for Christmas," she said warmly. Merlin grinned.

"Yep. That's been the plan." Gwen slowed to match his step, and her brow creased in concern.

"Are… you sure you're alright?" Merlin felt his ears beginning to warm. He self consciously quickened his step and hooked his fingers under the straps of his backpack, tugging it forward.

"Gwen, I'm fine," he insisted. "Honestly, you're as bad as Gaius," If he hadn't known better, he'd have thought that his uncle put the girl up to it, but Gwen was enough of a worrier on her own to watch him like a hawk without prompting. It had been a few days since Gaius had allowed him back in school after the poisoning incident—a welcome change after being fussed over for two days. He'd been fine most of the day, but of course Gwen had managed to cross paths with him while he was sitting down to let a brief moment of dizziness pass. The antidote had eliminated most of the poison's effects, but dizziness had been the longest lingering problem. Gwen had very nearly called his uncle on the spot. She'd been eyeing him anxiously ever since.

"Sorry," Gwen looked quickly away. "It's just—"

"It's fine," Merlin said, turning to look back as she stopped on the sidewalk in front of the Pendragon house. "Really, Gwen, stop worrying about me. I feel great. I'll see you tomorrow in class, yeah?"

"Yeah, of course," Gwen said. "I can… I mean, if you're behind, I could show you the material you missed after class."

"That'd be great." Merlin said brightly, relaxing. Gwen shifted her feet, avoiding his gaze hesitantly, as if she were debating whether or not to say something, then she shrugged her backpack off.

"I... I got something—er, I mean I brought something for you. I mean, well, it's already yours. It was a bit dirty when I picked it up, so I thought I'd wash it before I gave it back, and I almost forgot… I… hope you don't mind. But..." She stopped her anxious rambling and retrieved something from her pack. "Here," she said and pressed a piece of soft fabric into Merlin's hands. He took it, a bit bewildered, and unraveled a length of long, familiar blue cloth. His eyes widened in astonishment.

"You... found my scarf?" Gwen shrugged.

"Well... you left it on the sidewalk," she said, clasping her hands and looking shyly from Merlin's face to the scarf in his hands. Merlin grinned.

"No, of course not. Thanks, Gwen! I thought I'd lost it!" Gwen ducked her head, blushing.

"Gwen!" Both teens looked up. Morgana, with impeccable timing as always, had appeared in the doorway of the Pendragon house. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, coming. Sorry!" Gwen smiled briefly at Merlin, still shyly avoiding eye contact. "I'll see you tomorrow, Merlin." She turned and hurried up the walkway to join Morgana. Merlin didn't miss the dark haired girl's delicately arched eyebrow and smirk. He rolled his eyes and buried his cold fingers gratefully in the thick scarf as he headed for his apartment.

"Gaius?" Merlin knocked loudly on the apartment door. "Gaius, please open the door." No response. Merlin sighed and set his backpack down. Where are you? I can't get into the apartment, he texted and leaned back against the wall, propping his backpack against one foot and nudging it absentmindedly as he waited for Gaius to unlock the door. His answer came, instead, in the form of a responding text:

I've been called out on an urgent house visit. Use your key. Merlin groaned and stuffed his mobile back in his pocket. Of all days, of course Gaius would chose the day he forgot his key to actually lock the apartment door for once. He'd have to wait until Gaius got back. He slung his backpack over one shoulder and traipsed back down the stairs. Gaius would probably… well, hopefully be back within the hour. He took a seat on the bottom step and tucked his newly returned scarf into his backpack. The snow had stopped early in the morning, but Merlin could still see his breath billow out in a misty white cloud. It was going to be a long wait.

Help! The cry startled Merlin out of his thoughts. He sat up and looked around for the source of the sound, but the street was empty.

"Hello?" He stood up. "Gwen, are you there?" The voice hadn't sounded like Gwen, though.

Help me. It took a heartbeat for the teen to realize what he hadn't wanted to believe the first time he heard it. The voice wasn't a voice at all. Just like his first month in Camelot when the dragon had summoned him, he was hearing the voice somewhere deep inside his mind. He shivered. This could not be good. He got to his feet, focusing on the faint prick of consciousness at the back of his mind—the one that had spoken to him. Again, much as the day he'd gone searching for the source of the dragon's voice, he felt a gentle nudge in the direction of the street corner. Merlin shrugged his backpack on and jogged down the street, following the hunch.

I'm coming, he responded forcefully in his mind. Where are you?

They're going to kill me! A surge of panic and desperation accompanied the mind-voice this time. Please, help me! it begged. Merlin rounded the corner in determined pursuit.

I'll help you, alright? Tell me where you are. He started when something nearby shifted and turned to find himself looking at a small, huddled figure, half-hidden in the shadow of a house. It was a boy—certainly no older than nine years old—who stared up at Merlin with round, frightened blue eyes. He was bundled in a puffy green winter jacket but shivering nonetheless, and he clutched one shoulder gingerly with the opposite hand. Merlin edged slowly closer and crouched in front of him, switching naturally to vocal communication.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently. The boy blinked at him and shook his head. Booted footsteps echoed down the street, perhaps a block away, and the boy's eyes grew rounder still.

Please, they're looking for me, he said fearfully, still speaking clearly in Merlin's mind. Merlin bit his lip. It occurred easily enough to him that the boy had to know magic to be speaking in his mind. Only the dragon had done that before. But how would the Patroni know that this had magic? For that matter… how had the boy gotten into Camelot to start with? People weren't allowed to simply walk in as they wished. Please! The boy's desperate voice pleaded as the footsteps drew closer. Merlin stood up briskly, having reached a decision.

"Come on," he whispered, beckoning as he glanced around the corner. The Patroni were still far enough away. Merlin put a hand on the boy's unhurt shoulder and steered him around the corner. He urged the boy gently towards the apartments but drew to a stop in front of the Pendragon house, his breath catching in his throat. Gaius isn't back yet... He felt his heart sinking. The apartment was still locked. He had nowhere to hide the boy. The Patroni were drawing closer. He could hear them talking as they moved towards the corner. He didn't have time to think. They had to move now. On an impulse, he seized the boy's hand, darted up the Pendragons' walkway, and tore open the door. He and the boy slipped inside, and Merlin shut the door behind them with a loud click just as the two officers turned the corner.

"The doorbell is there for a reason... Merlin." Morgana trailed off, peering around the doorway to the dining room, and the amusement vanished from her face as she caught sight of the second, smaller unexpected guest. The boy shuffled backwards, and Merlin swallowed hard but put an arm reassuringly around the boy's shoulders. Gwen had, by that point, appeared in the doorway as well, surprised and curious.

"The... the Patroni were looking for him. He said they were going to kill him. I... I didn't know what to do," Merlin explained weakly, squeezing the boy's shoulder in a vain attempt at comfort. The boy's whole body was beginning to tremble, and Merlin looked down at him in time to see his eyes roll back and his entire body go limp. He dropped to his knees and caught the child, supporting his head as he lowered him to the floor. The two girls were at his side in a heartbeat.

"He's cold as ice!" Gwen gasped, touching his face gently with one hand. "Oh, Merlin, what happened to his shoulder?" Merlin shook his head.

"I found him like this," he said. His throat tightened at the sight of the bloodied and torn cloth on the boy's shoulder. He had a sick feeling that he knew what had happened. The Patroni had good aim. If they were out to kill the boy, it was lucky he'd made it this far. Morgana reached up and brushed his hair back from his forehead, and her brow creased in concern.

"We should bring him up to my room," she said brusquely.

"I've got him," Merlin said. He gathered the boy up as gently as he could and followed her up the stairs with an anxious Gwen close on his heels.

Morgana quickly spread an extra blanket over her bed and Merlin laid the boy down. He peeled the jacket off as gently as possible, and Gwen gave a sharp intake of breath when the bloody mess that was the boy's shoulder was revealed.

"Where did you find him?" Morgana asked.

"He was hiding in a corner by the apartments," Merlin answered, touching a hand gently to the boy's neck to feel his pulse. He felt cold to the touch, but his heartbeat seemed to be steadying again. At a guess, Merlin thought he'd probably fainted from trauma and exhaustion. He'd probably been out in the cold far longer than was safe especially for a victim of gunshot.

"He must be the boy who the Patroni have been looking for all night," Morgana said slowly.

"What?" Merlin looked up, interest piqued.

"A Druid was shot near the guest apartments last night around three in the morning," Morgana explained. Druid…? Merlin frowned. He'd heard the word—or was it name—before, though he couldn't recall when or where. "The Patroni reported that there was a boy with him. They haven't been able to find him," Morgana continued as Merlin began gently peeling back the boy's shirt to inspect the boy's wound more closely. The teenager had seen bullet wounds before when he and Will had decided to visit his mother at work. Some of the suburbs around his home town of Armagh were less than ideal locations, and the emergency room where Hunith worked saw the victims from worst incidents. Hunith had been furious when she'd discovered the boys, and Will's mother had arrived in minutes to take them home, but not before they'd seen the casualties of a local fire-fight brought in through triage. From what limited knowledge Merlin had picked up between Hunith and Gaius, he knew that the bullet in the boy's shoulder needed to be removed as soon as possible to prevent infection. He probed the wound as gently as he could, but the boy stirred and whimpered softly at the touch nonetheless. From the corner of his eye, Merlin saw Morgana flinch. "We need to get him out of here," she said softly. Merlin nodded, feeling his skin prickle as he thought of what would happen to all four of them if the boy was found here in the Pendragon household. He'd really put himself in a tight spot now. How to get the boy back outside Camelot really didn't bear thinking about at the moment. If what Morgana said about the boy was right, security would be increased until he was found.

"We should get the bullet out and wrap up this wound first," Merlin said, standing up. "I'll… see if I can get some medical supplies from Gaius' clinic." Gwen's brows drew together in an anxious frown.

"Shouldn't we have Gaius do that?" she queried, biting her lip.

"No, I… don't want to involve him," Merlin hedged uncomfortably. "Just… stay here and I'll be right back."

It crossed Merlin's mind the moment he turned the doorknob that if the door was unlocked Gaius had to be back. He paused, leaning wearily against the doorframe and listening for Gaius' footsteps. When he heard nothing, he slipped noiselessly into the main room, dropped his backpack by the couch, and turned towards Gaius' surgery. Perhaps he could grab some supplies and slip back out without his uncle notincing…

"Merlin!" The teen stopped in his tracks. "Where have you been?" Gaius demanded, appearing from the kitchen and marching across the room.

"I… er… I was—"

"You were supposed to come straight back. You need to rest," Gaius said.

"I was talking to Gwen!" Merlin said, seizing on the first half-true excuse that crossed his mind. "Just got back," He took a step back, reaching down to retrieve his backpack and head for his room.

Emrys… Merlin startled at the unexpected call in his mind. His foot came up against the table by the couch, and he nearly tripped. From the corner of his eye, he saw Gaius' cup toppling off the table and without thinking, he reached out with his magic and stopped it. The teacup, half-spilled contents and all, froze in midair.

"Merlin!" Gaius' voice was terse and sharp. Merlin's eyes snapped guiltily to his uncle. "Put it down!" The cup dropped to the ground, and its contents spilled across the rug. Merlin stood very still, conscious of his heart pounding unusually loud in his ears. He hadn't caught something with magic for several weeks. It was a habit Gaius had been carefully breaking him of. Making a mistake like that was tantamount to instant death anywhere outside of Gaius' apartment. The thought of the druid boy's garish wound made him feel sick… One mistake like this, and a similar bullet would be his…

"You're shaking," Gaius observed quietly. Merlin buried his hands in his pockets, pushing the thoughts quickly to the back of his mind.

"I'm fine," he said.

"Sit down, Merlin," Gaius ordered.

"I need to return Gwen's book to her," Merlin improvised quickly, trying to move past Gaius. "I borrowed it last week."

"Gwen can wait," Gaius answered giving his nephew a stern look. Merlin sank wordlessly onto the couch. "Did you eat?"

"Er…"

"Of course not." And with that Gaius vanished into the kitchen, leaving Merlin to stare at the tea-stain at his feet. Merlin let out a shaky breath and set the cup back on the table before pulling out his mobile.

Sorry. Gaius won't let me leave. I'll bring everything tomorrow after school, he wrote to Morgana. Will he be alright?

I think so, she sent back shortly. He's sleeping quietly now. I'll let you know if he gets any worse. Merlin sighed and leaned his head back against the couch, and over the sounds of Gaius working in the kitchen, he heard the boy's voice speak in his mind so softly he almost missed it.

Emrys. Where are you, Emrys?

AN: Once again, thankyouthankyouthankyou to all you lovely folks who reviewed/favorited/read my story. I always enjoy feedback from you all. Even if you just drop me a one word review that says 'cool', I like to know that you're around. I'm going to continue the story whether people read or not, but it's always encouraging to know that someone is enjoying this! :)

Soooo what I'm trying to say is, thanks for your support! :D

The next chapter is already half written. It's VERY plot heavy, sooo be prepared! And if you spot any plotholes, PLEASE let me know. I tried to make everything tie together prettily so far, but it's good to have your input! You'll probably see things I missed.

Cheers!

~Sandyy