Chapter Thirty Five

Arthur was moving before Merlin or Mordred could react. Merlin winced as his fist made contact across Mordred's face, a loud crack filling the silence. Mordred fell backwards, falling over the bar stool and crashing to the floor.

"Get out!"He roared his face twisted with rage. Mordred stumbled up, blood running from his mouth and nose. He spit a large mouthful of blood onto the floor and looked at Merlin with a look that made him want to puke. There was a look of satisfaction, as if he had proven himself right about something.

"Goodbye Emrys," He said a tone of finality to his words as he grabbed his shirt and left in the elevator. The flat was painfully silent as Arthur stared at Merlin, his eyes boring holes into Merlin's head as he stared at the floor.

"Look at me," he spat and Merlin reluctantly brought up his face to look at Arthur.

"Arthur, I'm so sorry..." He gulped and Arthur's lip twitched.

"I don't understand," Arthur started, his hands trembling as he tried to collect his thoughts. "I thought that there was nothing to worry about."

"There isn't!" Merlin quickly said, standing up and doing up his pants. When had those come undone?

"Apparently there is!" He yelled back, indicating his pants and shirtless body, "Clearly I should have been worried!"

"Nothing happened-"

"That's what you call nothing?" Arthur gaped, ready to throttle Merlin. "Explain yourself!"

"I don't know what to say," he sobbed, collapsing onto a bar stool and burying his face in his hands. "I don't know what happened."

"Do you love him?" He asked, hands on his hips as he stopped pacing to hear his answer.

"No," he shook his head, he didn't love him.

"But you want him?"

"Yes... no, I don't know," he shook his head.

"I thought you had dealt with this. I was patient with you Merlin when you told me that you needed to sort out your feelings before. I trusted you-" his voice broke on those last words, "and you broke that trust."

"I know," he cried, "I'm so sorry."

"Do you want to marry me?" He asked again, but this time it was not a question asked out of love but out of fear.

"Yes!" He sobbed and Arthur growled and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him.

"Then explain to me why you were snogging Mordred!" He screamed shaking him and Merlin shook like a rag doll in his hands.

"Arthur you're hurting me," he whimpered and Arthur immediately let go.

"Get out," he hissed.

"What?" Merlin looked up at through wide tearful eyes.

"Get the fuck out, right now, before I break your face too." He spat with disgust and Merlin just stood there in disbelief. "NOW Merlin! Get your shit and go!"

o.O.o.O.o

Morgana's car was parked just past the apartment building as planned. Mordred slid into the passenger seat, still wiping at the blood on his face.

"I take it Arthur caught you in a very compromising position?" Morgana sneered.

"Indeed," He nodded his voice nasally from what he suspected to be a broken nose.

"Everything go according to plan?" She asked as she started to drive away.

"Yes," he nodded. "Arthur's chucked Merlin out, I watched him leave from the alley." He explained and Morgana smiled.

"Good. That should keep Merlin distracted long enough that we can finish things up." She said happily and Mordred just looked out the window. He already regretted his actions.

He stood in his bathroom, washing his face in cold water after snapping his nose back into place. It wasn't the first time he'd broken his nose and he didn't think it'd be last. It still hurt like a bitch though. He stared at his bruised reflection in the mirror and felt nothing but pure hatred. He had gone too far this time, there would be no fixing this now. The look of hurt in Merlin's eyes has broken anything good left in Mordred. He never liked Arthur but he even felt guilty over hurting the ape. Outraged with himself, with what was in the mirror, he reached up and punched the glass, making it shatter all around him. He drew in a deep breath, revelling in the pain that was shooting up his arm. He smiled satisfactorily and looked at the blood on his hand. He pulled a piece of glass out and then began rinsing it off, letting the pain wash over him and block out everything. Once the pain dulled he grabbed the hand towel and wrapped it around his hand.

Well, he thought, there was no pointing dwelling on what he'd done. It was too late now, he had made his choice and there was no going back. It may have been the wrong decision, but there wasn't anything he could do. He thought about Merlin, his thoughts drifting to the heated kiss, the hunger that Merlin had grabbed at him with. He wondered if he would have stopped if Arthur hadn't come home. It scared Mordred to think that he would have done what he did regardless of Merlin's response. Arthur had to catch them kissing, not just kissing but passionately kissing in order for his plan to work. A part of him wished that Morgana had made Arthur wait longer so that Mordred could have seen how far Merlin was willing to go with him.

He splashed cool water on his face one more time before drying himself and leaving the bathroom. Tomorrow at work would be incredibly awkward; he needed to figure out how he was going to approach the situation.

o.O.o.O.o

Lance and Gwen were just getting into bed, his hands removing her shirt when the doorbell rang. They both groaned; it had been way too long since they'd seen each other. Reluctantly, Lance pulled his pants back on and went downstairs. He could see Merlin standing on the porch through the glass and when he opened the door, Merlin turned to him, puffy eyed and tear streaked face.

"Merlin?" Lance frowned and moved aside, inviting him.

"I'm so sorry to just barge in on you like this," He cried.

"Merlin!" Gwen exclaimed as she came down the stairs, tying her robe around her.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry guys," he sniffed and Gwen pulled him into a hug.

"Nonsense! What's wrong?" She asked, looking at Lance over Merlin's shoulder as she hugged him. Lance pointed to the suitcase and her face fell even more.

"Arthur kicked me out," he sobbed.

"What?!" They both exclaimed and he started crying even harder.

"It's ok," Lance gripped his shoulder, "come inside, we'll make you some tea."

"Thanks," he sniffed as they led him down the hall into the kitchen. Gwen sat with Merlin at the kitchen table, seemingly producing tissues out of thin air and handing them to him as Lance went about making tea.

"Tell us what happened," Gwen cooed, rubbing his back.

"Mordred," was all Merlin was able to say before breaking down in sobs even further. At the mention of Mordred, Lance nearly dropped the cups he was holding and he and Gwen looked at each other knowingly.

"What has Mordred done?" Lance asked, getting prepared to go over and beat the shit out of him.

"It was both of us," Merlin sniffed, "oh god, I've messed up so badly."

"No…" Lance shook his head; no Merlin wouldn't put himself in that situation again.

"I did," he confirmed and looked up to meet Lance's eyes, fully prepared for him to punch him the way Arthur hit Mordred. "He came over to talk about… about," he paused looking at Gwen.

"She knows everything," Lance said, giving Merlin permission to speak freely.

"Or I thought he came over to talk about it anyway… I assumed that's why when he showed up but then he started saying how he couldn't let me marry Arthur," his voice broke as he paused to try and regain control over himself. "I don't know what I was thinking… I kissed him." He confessed, burying his face in his hands.

"No Merlin," Gwen said brokenly, "why would you do that?"

"I don't know! I just…" he shook his head, there was no explaining this. "And then Arthur came home and saw us and he hit Mordred and threw me out."

"I'm so sorry," Gwen sympathized, rubbing his back, "you can stay here tonight. I'm sure everything will be ok once Arthur calms down."

"K," he sniffed, sipping the tea Lance set in front of him.

"You can stay as long as you need to," Lance assured him, "I'll talk to Arthur tomorrow."

"K," he repeated and sighed heavily, having cried himself into exhaustion. "I think I'm going to go to bed."

"Ok, I'll take you to the guest room," Gwen smiled and walked with Merlin upstairs and into the second bedroom that was also Lance's office. She made up the pullout bed as Merlin changed and brushed his teeth.

"Thanks again," he said, a little more composed.

"No problem. Goodnight Merlin," Gwen kissed his cheeks and then left the room, closing the door behind her. Merlin sighed heavily and curled up under the blankets. He lay there, staring at the ring on his finger until he cried himself to sleep.

o.O.o.O.o

Merlin was so tempted to not go into work the next day. The idea of having to face Arthur was overwhelming. Luckily, he wouldn't be starting as his assistant again until next week and it was Thursday, so he had some time to figure things out. He wondered if Arthur would change his mind about having him as his assistant again. Then again, being demoted wasn't exactly ideal in Merlin's opinion anyway so he wouldn't mind too much.

He did go into work though. In the shower he had discovered a love bite on his neck that Mordred had left and Lance had to convince him again to come into work. He covered it with a neckerchief, attempting to cover his shame as well as the mark. He would have to see Mordred today as well and by the time they got to the office, Merlin had again convinced himself he shouldn't be going in. He hid in Lance's office for an hour before Lance finally kicked him out and made him get to work.

Slowly, Merlin made his way to his office. He poked his head around the corner to see if Mordred was at his desk or not and sighed with relief when he saw he wasn't. He quickly walked passed and into his office, shutting the door behind him in a rush. He drew out a long breath and closed his eyes. How the hell was he going to get anything done?

The phone rang and he scrambled to his desk to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Merlin?" Freya responded from the other end.

"Freya! Hey, how are you?" He asked, disentangling himself from the wires and sitting down at his desk.

"Not good, where's the drive? Merlin I have one week to create a program to stop this thing. I need that drive." She reminded him rather forcefully and Merlin rubbed his face.

"I know, I'll get it." He promised. She muttered a few more things before hanging up and leaving Merlin with the sinking feeling that everything was going to be lost. He drew in a deep breath. He might lose Arthur, but he wouldn't let Arthur lose Camelot. He got up and headed out, checking to see again if Mordred was at his desk. He still wasn't there so Merlin checked Morgana's office. They must have been at a meeting he thought as he snuck inside.

Morgana's purse hung over her jacket on the coat hook. He glanced over his shoulder quickly before grabbing it and opening it up. He looked through the entire thing, checking all the pockets, opening her wallet even to check but there was no flash drive.

"Fuck," he hissed and put everything back in. He hung it up and quickly slipped back out of the office just in time as Morgana and Mordred rounded the corner.

"Merlin!" She grinned, "I'm surprised to see you here today." She said, narrowing her eyes with a knowing look.

"Well, couldn't exactly not come in," he mumbled, glancing at Mordred. Mordred wouldn't meet his eyes but the evidence of what they had done was all over his face. His nose was bruised, the bruise reaching underneath both eyes and Merlin could tell Arthur had broken his nose.

"Well," She smirked as she watched Merlin take in Mordred's broken face, "there is some work that I need you and Mordred to do." She informed him and Merlin could tell Mordred was just as surprised as he was by this news.

"What is it?" He asked and they followed her into her office.

"I need you to go check on the construction status as the Baymore building," she explained. The Baymore was a call center that they had bought recently and they were in the process of renovating.

"Ok," Merlin sighed, he hated going on site and this particular location was an hour drive to Headington.

"Excellent, you should get going." She instructed and the two men walked out of the office in silence.

"I'm going to get my coat." Merlin said before Mordred could say anything. "Come on," he said moments later, walking to the elevator.

"Merlin," Mordred started but the look Merlin gave him made him pause. They got into the elevator and road down in silence. They got in Mordred's car a few minutes later and headed out.

"Are you ok?" Mordred finally asked, glancing over at Merlin who was clearly still struggling to keep his emotions under control.

"No," he shook his head and looked over at Mordred, "are you? Is your nose ok?"

"It's not the first time I've broken my nose, I'll be fine." He said, sounding a lot colder than he meant to but he couldn't allow himself worry about Merlin.

"K," Merlin sniffed and Mordred tightened his hands on the wheel. He didn't think he could handle if Merlin broken down and started crying.

"Did he hurt you? After I left?" He asked suddenly.

"No," Merlin shook his head, "not really."

"What do you mean 'not really'?" He asked; worry seeping its way into him anyway.

"He didn't hurt me, just yelled and kicked me out." Merlin admitted and Mordred let out the breath he had been holding. He knew Arthur had thrown him out, but if he had hurt Merlin because of what Mordred had done, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. He almost laughed out loud at that thought; he wasn't doing such a good job of living with himself anyway.

"I'm sorry," He said barely above a whisper. He hadn't meant to say it, hadn't meant to apologize but the guilt was just too much.

"It's not your fault," Merlin replied, sighing and wiping at his eyes.

"Yes it is."

"No, you can't be blamed for how you feel. You can't control who you fall for." He corrected and Mordred shook his head.

"I still shouldn't have put you in that position."

"Why did you?" Merlin asked, looking at him.

"I don't know," He lied, not being able to look back at Merlin so he pretended to be concentrating really hard on the road. "Why did you kiss me back?" He countered.

"I don't know," He said with a shrug, "It was a mistake." His words cut through Mordred more than he liked. Mistake. He was a mistake.

"Well you should talk to Arthur. I'm sure he'll understand that." Mordred replied a little too bitterly.

"Would you?" He countered. "Would you forgive me if the positions were reversed?"

"Of course," he said which was true and glanced at Merlin.

"Why?"

"Don't you get it Merlin?" He asked, using Merlin's first name, "I would do anything for you. If you told me you wanted both me and Arthur, I would be willing to share you with him. If you told me to leave, to get out of your life…" He gulped; the idea of not having Merlin in his life at all was too painful. Then again, he was pretty much making sure that happened. "I would walk away, if that's what you wanted." He stole a glance at Merlin who was shaking his head and looking out the window, tears in his eyes again. He gripped the steering wheel tighter to avoid reaching out and touching him.

"I don't think Arthur will see it the same way." He said finally.

"What you did, what we did, isn't unforgivable… at least… not your part in it." He managed to say. Why did he keep trying to help Merlin? This was ridiculous. He needed to stop going back and forth with this, stop loving him and hating him and decide. The anger at how Merlin had used him flared and he remembered how Merlin didn't really care, he couldn't care. At the same time, his words came back from last night saying that he did care. Mordred wanted to drive off the road, he was so frustrated.

"Arthur doesn't trust people easily…. Just like you," Merlin tried to explain, "What I did wasn't just about kissing you. If it had just been a kiss then he could forgive me."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that he knows it was more than a kiss, knows that it would have… have gone a lot farther if he hadn't shown up when he did. He knows that I care about you a lot more than I should."

Mordred tried to process what Merlin was saying.

"Anyway," Merlin let out a sigh, "let's not talk about that. How are things coming along with Morgana? I looked in her purse this morning but I didn't find the drive." He announced and Mordred snap his head to him.

"You what?"

"I looked in her purse. You said the usb stick was in her purse so I went in and checked." He repeated.

"She must have moved it," he lied and nervously shifted, trying to feel the stick in his pocket to make sure it was still there. Apparently his plan to distract Merlin wasn't exactly working out so well. Damn, he was like a dog with a bone!

"We're really running out of time. I can't let this happen to Arthur and everyone else. It isn't just about him. Everyone will lose their jobs, everyone! Do you have any idea how many people work at Camelot?" He questioned and Mordred shook his head.

"A lot?"

"In London, over three hundred people will lose their jobs. In LA, just under 250 and in Rome, another 200 will lose their jobs." He informed Mordred. "Nearly a thousand people will be out of a job in two weeks."

"Camelot might not totally collapse," Mordred tried to find some possible way that this might be true.

"It will. Arthur is the company's CEO and will end up in jail, Morgana will disappear and I assume Morgause will too, which means that's a huge chunk of the board-just gone. The 10 million pounds that she'll get away with will be large enough to at the very least, shut down the London office. We won't have any way to pay employees. Not to mention the fact that they will freeze all of Camelot's accounts during the investigation anyway! I mean, who even cares about Arthur at this point?" Merlin ranted, "Obviously I do but he's just one person in nearly a thousand people who will be out of a job. That's families, children's parents who depend on them to support them. Arthur probably won't be the only one blamed either so more innocent people will go to jail. The economy is already bad enough but now we're suddenly throwing in a couple hundred unemployed people into it. They won't be able to find jobs, sure some will, but a lot won't. I've seen this happen, not due to fraud but because Camelot shut down the factory where I grew up. My village is hardly a village anymore there's no one there! Fifty eight employees killed themselves, including my best friend's father. Over a hundred of them lost their homes." Merlin went on passionately and Mordred was feeling increasingly sicker. He had just been thinking about getting back at Merlin and Arthur, everyone else was just collateral damage but hearing Merlin talk about it like this was making it too real. Maybe he had a point? He clenched his jaw, listening as Merlin continued talking about the devastation that this would cause and he wrestled with the choice he had.