The atmosphere in the room had changed considerably. The knights were huddled together, along with Merlin and Mordred, trying to work out a plan. Gwen and Elaine were busily making phone calls, attempting to get ahold of the knights' contacts in the military or anyone else who might be able to help. As they did, they could all sense the surreptitious gazes of the people taking shelter in the warehouse with them, glancing over at the only people as if hoping for some sort of guidance or hope from the circle of fierce yet worried young men and women.
Suddenly, a pair of people burst into the warehouse, breathing hard and silhouetted by the eerie and unnatural glow of the sky outside. Their sudden arrival caused several of the building's other inhabitants to swivel to stare at the new arrivals, as did a few of the Round Table. It was a man and woman, both quite young, probably no older than Mordred. The man was roughly handsome, with tousled dark blond hair and an athletic build; the woman was slim, about the same height as the man, and very beautiful in a casual way, as if she didn't realize how lovely her slightly tanned skin and wavy brown hair was.
"Are you sure this is right? I don't see him anywhere," the man asked, turning in exasperation to his companion. She rolled her eyes.
"And you're so observant that of course you'd spot one man in this whole crowd, right away," she snapped back impatiently. "The people said a few MPs had set up an evacuation center. He works for Arthur Penduron, and Sally said Penduron wasn't in the building when... when..." She trailed off, still coming to grips with the night's events. Panicked, David stared at her, then reached out as if to offer a comforting arm before apparently thinking better of it and jerking his arm back. Regaining her composure, the woman covered for her moment of weakness with another barb at her companion, wincing inwardly at just how harsh her tone was. "If you ever showed any patience, David Holton, I think I just might die from the shock." David grumbled something under his breath, but the girl spared him only a quick glance before turning to look through the crowds again.
Upon their unintentionally dramatic entrance, Mordred had been among those distracted enough to look up at the newcomers. To the surprise of the knights, his young face burst into a smile. The druid dashed away from their group, touching Merlin's wrist automatically as he did so, and hurried towards the pair, aware of his boyfriend's eyes following him.
"David! Emma!" he called, picking his way through the crowds and trying to hail them. At the sound of his voice, Emma turned around, then tugged at David's coat sleeve to get his attention away from his appraising, unabashedly fascinated stares at the exposed architecture of the old building.
"Mort! Knew you'd be here!" Emma closed the last few steps between them and threw her arms around the dark-haired young man, who returned her hug affectionately.
"'Course I am," he said, grinning slightly as he released her. "David." He shook hands with the man, clapping him on the shoulder and holding on just a little longer than necessary, both men seeing the slight fear and relief in the other's eyes. "Thank God you two are alright. But what are you doing here?" he exclaimed. Before they could answer, Mordred heard Merlin's voice echo in his head.
Hey, Mordred, could you come back for a second?
Sure. Hang on, be right there. Shrugging apologetically, he gestured back towards the group. "I'll be right back, just a second." Hurrying back to the knights, he asked, "Okay, what's up?" Merlin glanced up as he rejoined them.
"We're trying to figure out how possible it would be to actually find Morgana herself in a situation where we might have a chance against her. No offense, Mordred, but you've spent the most time with her in...uh, when she's been..." Gwaine trailed off awkwardly as the younger man grinned at his discomfort.
"When we were 'partners in crime'? Yeah, I get it. Let me see that map," he said, reaching to turn the map towards him.
"Who the hell is Mordred?" Startled, Mordred jerked around to see David and Emma standing behind him with odd expressions on their faces. "Wait. Wait just a second..." Emma continued, tilting her head thoughtfully. David picked up her train of thought.
"We aren't stupid, you know. We interns spend a lot of time together, it's not hard to notice that some things about you just don't add up, Mort. But that's not really your name, is it?" When Mordred didn't reply, Emma spoke again.
"Wait a second. Arthur-" she pointed at Arthur, "Lance, Percy, Leon-" she gestured to each of the knights- "his wife is named Gwen... And he called you Mordred..." Emma's eyes widened. "Either that's a really strange coincidence...or..."
"Or all the weird things suddenly make sense," David finished her sentence again. "Like... like that time when I swear we were locked out, and you were trying the door, and I could've sworn I saw your eyes change color and then the door was open."
"So you do pay attention to some things," Emma remarked dryly, earning a glare from David. Sighing, Mordred looked up at Merlin and shared a long glance, at the end of which Merlin nodded almost imperceptibly. Mordred turned to his friends.
"You mean like this?" he asked in a low voice, using magic to summon one of the papers into his hand and allowing them to see the flash of gold in his eyes. The two interns stepped back instinctively, fear mixing with fascination in their eyes.
"Whoa."
"Yeah." Mordred replied, not really sure what else to say.
"So all this...stuff...that's happening," Emma looked around at the gathered knights, "it has to do with you lot? I mean, we'd figured it wasn't exactly something normal, but..." She trailed off, then glanced up at the blond man who looked like he bore the weight of centuries in his young face. "My God. Then that makes you... Your Majesty..." she said in a very low voice, everything making sense at once.
"If you're...you know... Then are you here to save us?" David asked, incredulous but clever enough not to be skeptical of the evidence that was right in front of his eyes. The king finally met their eyes, first Emma's green ones, then David's gray ones.
"We're going to try." At this reply, Emma straightened up and lifted her chin proudly.
"Then I'm going to help. However I can, I'm with you," she said, the tone in her voice making clear that she was not to be deterred. Glancing quickly at her,
Merlin noticed Arthur quietly break away from the group. As the warlock turned to go after him, he placed an affectionate hand on Mordred's shoulder, who turned to smile at him, his favorite boyish grin that only Merlin got to see. With so much danger all around them, he was taking every opportunity he had to be near his partner. Weaving quickly through the crowds, Merlin made his way to the side of his best friend, who was sitting up against a wall. With his hair messy from running his hands through it so often and the lost look on his face, he looked as young as the first time Merlin had met him, when they were both barely out of boyhood.
"Hey," Merlin said, sliding down to the floor at his side. "What's wrong, Arthur?" he asked gently. The king didn't respond at first. "Come on, Arthur, I know you well enough to tell that something is wrong- so what is it?" Arthur stared straight ahead, resting his head back against the wall.
"All these people- they keep looking at us like they expect something. Mordred's friends, as soon as they learned who I was, they assumed I could help."
"Yeah. So?" Arthur turned to face Merlin, anguish in his pale blue eyes.
"What if I can't? Merlin, I'm not the same man anymore. I used to be King Arthur, a knight and a king and... so much. I'm not a king anymore- and if I'm not who I always was, then who am I?"
"Yes, you are. You are still the King Arthur I knew. You're the same man, Arthur. I know you are." Merlin leaned forward, willing Arthur to understand.
"All these people are depending on me- but this time, I don't...I don't know how to help them. I don't know what to do at all. It's all my fault. If it wasn't for me, Morgana wouldn't be here, she wouldn't be attacking, everyone wouldn't be in danger and losing their homes and lives. I can't ask them to fight with me now too, and risk their lives to fight my battle. I'm letting everyone down- the knights, Gwen, you, but no one more than myself," he concluded bitterly. Merlin reached out and placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder.
"Arthur. This- this is not your fault. All of these people here- they're safe because of you, because you had the presence of mind to set up this safe house. Just because you don't have a crown and a throne, doesn't make you any less a king. And the fact that you're feeling all this just proves it even more."
"Proves what?" Arthur asked, still bitter.
"That you are still the wise, compassionate king who cared about his people's welfare more than his own, the man who conquered insurmountable obstacles time and time again because he commanded the utter loyalty of a small group of people. People who believed in the man as much as they believed in the world he would create. Do you know why your name has never been forgotten? Because of that. Because you are the once and future king, and the greatest leader the world has ever known or will know. No matter what age you are in, you are still that man, Arthur Pendragon." Arthur finally looked up again, and this time there was a light in his eyes.
"Really? Do you really believe that, Merlin?" The warlock grinned.
"I do." He got up, then reached down to offer Arthur a hand as he clambered to his feet. "And Arthur?"
"Yeah?"
"You aren't letting us down. And you never have let me down- you never could."
"Hello? Hi, could I get everyone's attention please?" Arthur cleared his throat, standing on top of a folding table that probably shouldn't be able to hold his weight, although he was fairly certain Mordred had taken care of that already. Bit by bit, the warehouse began to quiet down as a wave of whispers and silence rippled outward from the people nearest him all the way to the edges. Arthur briefly glanced down, where Merlin and Gwen stood. When they gave him encouraging nods, he continued.
"As you already know, we are under attack from a... a highly unusual type of terror. I won't lie to you- those who are attacking have been trained to fight to the death, heedless of any injury to themselves, which makes them all the more dangerous. I don't want to frighten you, but you deserve the truth, and I believe you can handle it." He swallowed, then continued, his voice growing steadier and louder as he slipped back into the familiar patterns of the king he had been- the king he still was.
"I want to emphasize that within this warehouse, we are much safer than outside. It seems we already have provisions for a little while, my colleagues and I have worked out ways for us to stay here for quite some time. But there is still a battle going on out there. A battle that I feel obligated to be part of. So I am going to leave the warehouse, armed, and I am going to do my best to help defeat those who have decided it would be a good idea to attack the greatest country in the world." His voice intensified, taking on the fire and passion of a man who had rallied his small troops to battle.
"Because, haven't you noticed, throughout all history, those who attack Britain usually don't come out ahead? And why is that? Because we are brave. We are strong, and protective, and determined. We are resilient- when we get knocked down, we always get back up. And that's what I'm- we're- going out to do. To be part of that tradition as old as Britain herself, the Celtic warriors, to the people who would not give up during World War I," he glanced again at his friends, letting the faintest smile crease his face, "to the old legends of the knights of Camelot. So I'm going to fight. Are there any who will stand with me?"
The words rang familiarly in Merlin's head as he recalled another day when Arthur had asked the same question to a much smaller group. Apparently the others did too, because, after a few exchanged glances, Lancelot stepped forward first.
"I will," he said simply, nodding in Arthur's direction. Elaine stepped forward and took his hand.
"He means, we will." Arthur smiled slightly, inclining his head gratefully. Elyan spoke up next, followed by Leon, then Percival. As if knowing their order, the knights glanced at Gwaine, who grinned mischievously.
"We've got no chance- wouldn't miss it for the world." The others smiled, sharing the private memory. Gwen reached for Arthur, who leaned down to squeeze her hand.
"You know my answer. Yes- as it always has been." Then Mordred moved a step closer to the king he had once betrayed and met his gaze squarely, a determined fire burning in the blue depths of his eyes.
"And I," he added, without any wavering in his voice. Finally, Merlin shifted so he was again at Mordred's side. Looking his best friend in the eyes, he answered too.
"And I."
It was as if a sudden spell was broken. David and Emma were the first to dart out of the crowd.
"Well, I'm certainly not staying here. My dad taught me to shoot- I've got a gun, and I'm in," Emma declared. A flicker of concern passed over David's face before he theatrically sighed.
"If Annie Oakley's going, I'm sure as hell not staying behind. I'd better make sure she doesn't shoot the wrong side!" Emma elbowed him in the ribs, but only half-heartedly. One by one, more and more people began pushing forward, volunteering to go with Arthur. The knights began to scatter around to organize people and figure out who did and didn't have weapons.
"I'll be back- going to get weapons," Merlin muttered to Arthur as he passed. Arthur nodded, but as the warlock turned to go, he reached out to grab his arm.
"Merlin?" The other man turned back around, only to be shocked as the king pulled him into a warm hug, which, after a second of shock, he returned equally.
"Thank you, old friend," Arthur said as he released Merlin.
"For what?"
"For believing in me." At this, Merlin smiled.
"I always have."
Alright then, so the battle is soon to begin! How will it pan out? And where is Merlin going? I know this is a longer chapter, but there were two things I absolutely had to include: Merlin reassuring Arthur, and Arthur rallying the people as he always has (for those who didn't notice, the end of his speech comes from the first Round Table in 3x13). And if the title of this chapter sounds familiar, it's a well-known lyric from Les Miserables that seemed appropriate. A few shout-outs before I go: to cvgirl, who noticed that the black-ops team I included was Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones of Torchwood (with my own headcanon added in!); and a particular tip of the hat to starglen for this chapter in particular; I hope David and Emma are proving to be worthy of their names. Thank you all so much for reading, please review as I am nearing the end of this wonderful journey, and see you soon!
~C