Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

Troublesome tree-hugger

Merlin and Arthur finally seem to be finding their way back to their former friendship, Merlin tries to help a friend and a certain tree-hugger is causing trouble…

"Arthur?" Arthur was a bit surprised that Merlin actually talked to him out of his own free will but he tried not to show it.

"Yes?" He didn't quite know how to act around Merlin these days so he kept his voice calm and professional, not knowing if Merlin was angry with him or if something had happened. "Don't all the lawyers here take on a certain amount of pro bono cases?" The question was rhetorical since Merlin already knew that this was the case. Arthur nodded in answer without looking away from the computer screen and wondered why Merlin would ask him that.

"I looked into it" Merlin said hesitantly, "and it doesn't seem that you've done so many pro bono cases and so I was thinking…"

"Don't hurt yourself, Merlin" Arthur interrupted, still writing. The small jab was out pf Arthur's mouth before he knew what he'd said, out of old habit most likely, but luckily Merlin didn't seem offended by it.

"And so I was thinking" Merlin continued as if he hadn't heard the insult, "that maybe you wanted a case?"

"Do I look like I need more work right now, Merlin?" Arthur said, finally looking up. Merlin swallowed and had to admit that Arthur probably didn't need more on his plate right now, especially with the extra workload that came with Lancelot's dismissal and the row that he'd had with Uther. The whole office knew about it, and since no one was quite sure what had been said between father and son, some of the rumours flying around the office were downright insane. Merlin's shoulders slumped.

"It was just a thought" he mumbled and turned to leave. He wasn't surprised that Arthur had turned him down though, with everything that was going on and, not to mention, the fact that most of their communication these last weeks had consisted of shouting, cold shoulders and pointed glares. He would have to find another way to help Will.

If Arthur was surprised to see Merlin borrow a huge stack of books about environmental law to take home he didn't say anything. Nor did he mention the fact that Merlin shut himself into Leon's office for over an hour and came back out looking very thoughtful, although he was very curious as to why.

The next day Arthur was even more surprised when he walked into his office and found that a cup of coffee was on his desk, all his files were sorted and the mail was neatly organized.

"Merlin?" Arthur called out cautiously. "What is the meaning of all this?" he said, making a sweeping gesture to indicate his desk.

"Your morning coffee, with today's mail and the files you'll need. And, I've ordered lunch for the client meeting at twelve thirty; it's all in your calendar" Merlin said, handing him a piece of paper. "And you need to call this woman; she had some information about the lawsuit against Helios Ltd."

"Well, now I know something's definitely wrong" Arthur said suspiciously. "What have you done, robbed a bank? Need to borrow money?" Merlin sighed but he did look a little guilty.

"No, maybe I was a bit wrong about you. I know that you tried to talk to your father, and that he isn't one of the most reasonable men at times…" Merlin shuffled his feet and then continued. "Also, Leon told me that it was you who worked out the real reason why Lancelot was fired. I know you probably can't tell me about that, but still… And he said that you gave Lancelot the recommendation that he needed to find a new job, so, I guess I'm sorry for what I said to you. About being a coward and all that."

"You guess?" Arthur said, being torn between smiling widely because Merlin had forgiven him and scowling because he wasn't getting a proper apology.

"All right, I am sorry!" Merlin threw out his hands. "But you're still a pompous prat and jealous jerk that gets my boyfriends arrested" he added, pointing accusingly at Arthur.

"Hey! That happened once!" Arthur protested.

"Hey yourself, one time is one too many, wouldn't you say?" Merlin retorted and Arthur shrugged uncomfortably. He wasn't particularly proud of what he'd done but if they could actually joke about it now then maybe with time it would just be a weird memory between them. Merlin chewed on his bottom lip and then continued.

"But since you mentioned it, there actually is something that you could help me with. If you have time, of course, and I know that you maybe won't be able to do so much but I'd really appreciate it if you could and…" He hesitated and Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Spit it out, will you?" he prompted and Merlin cleared his throat.

"Will's in trouble and I've tried to help him myself but I'm stuck and I don't know how to continue. I was wondering if you could help me, at least take a look at it?" Arthur made a show of looking displeased but was actually happy that he and Merlin finally seemed to be on their way back to the easy friendship they had before and lifted the coffee cup.

"I'll read through it, while drinking this little bribe" he said, pointedly taking a sip, and Merlin smiled sheepishly.

"Thank you." He thrust a stack of papers in Arthur's hands and went back to his own desk as Arthur sighed and started leafing through the material.

It didn't take Arthur long to realize just how much trouble Will was in and he did discuss his conclusions with Leon, just to be sure, before he talked to Merlin. He knew that what he had to say would likely destroy their friendship for good but he had to warn Merlin, even if that wasn't the answer that the paralegal expected or wanted.

"Is there something you can do?" Merlin looked up with a hopeful smile and the anger Arthur felt over having to extinguish that hope hit him like a punch to the stomach. Still, there was no other way to do this and he cleared his throat.

"There is nothing I can do for Will" he said stiffly, handing the papers back. "And if you try to help him, you'll go down with him. So just stay out of it, ok?" He couldn't look Merlin in the eyes and hurried away before Merlin had the chance to say anything.