AN: So here it is, the much waited for final chapters! Chapter Thirty Six turned out to be so short that I just added chapter thirty seven into this post as well. I think I've finally concluded Camelot Inc. 307 pages and 120807 words later, it's finally ended. I'm not sure if I should be sad or not, although it does feel like a natural conclusion... I'm debating doing an epilogue or not, guess I'll wait for the reviews!
Just want to say thank you to everyone who's been reading and for all the wonderful reviews! It means a lot to me to that anyone has even taken the time out of their lives to read this little story let alone review it. So thank you for your support and I hope to see you on my other stories!
Chapter Thirty Six
It was Friday and Mordred had finally made a decision. He wasn't at all happy with it, but at least he didn't hate himself for it. He arrived early at work that morning, walking down to Gwaine's office and waiting for him. At five to nine, Gwaine showed up, stopping in the hallway when he saw Mordred standing outside his door.
"Mordred," He muttered. He had been told about what happened between him and Merlin but unlike Lance and everyone else, he wasn't taking a position of total hatred for the boy. After all, he knew exactly how painful it was to be in love with someone who didn't love you back and he had to admit, Merlin had been stringing him along all year.
"Gwaine," Mordred replied and waited as Gwaine unlocked his office and they both stepped inside.
"What can I do for you?" He asked, setting his travel mug of coffee down and removing his jacket.
"I need to give you something, to help with the problem," he explained and pulled out his phone and USB. He texted the recording to him and handed over the USB. "Don't tell Merlin that I gave this to you."
"Where am I supposed to say it came from?" He asked, taking it from Mordred.
"I don't know. Tell him you overheard Morgana and me talking, that I was planning on helping her just like I say on the tape. Tell him... tell him that what I did... I was trying to distract him and... and to hurt Arthur, to take that one last thing from him." He explained shamefully and Gwaine frowned.
"Is that true?" He questioned.
"Yea," He replied, nodding, "I'm not a good person Gwaine, but I regret what I did and I'm sorry. Hopefully you can get this to his friend and stop it in time."
"Thank you."
"Goodbye Gwaine," he said and turned, walking away. He had one more stop before he was done. He got back in the elevator and waited as it took him to the ninth floor where Arthur's new office was located. From what Mordred could gather, Arthur hadn't spoken to Merlin since that night and was avoiding him like the plague. It was safe to assume he'd be shut away in his office.
"Come in," Arthur shouted from behind the door in a tone that clearly meant 'go the fuck away'. Mordred opened it and closed it behind him. He held his breath as he waited for Arthur took up.
"You!" He spat when he realized it was Mordred, "get out."
"No," Mordred held his ground and took a couple steps forward, "I need to talk to you."
"I don't want to hear anything you have to say." He growled angrily and Mordred nodded.
"I know but you need to listen anyway." He held up his hands, "I'm sorry alright? I'm sorry for the last nine months, the way that I have been with Merlin. I knew you two were together the entire time and I... I didn't care."
"Great," Arthur stood up and Mordred took a step back, not wanting to repeat the nose breaking.
"Look I confused Merlin ok? He might like me on some level, but he doesn't love me. He loves you and what happened between us... that was a mistake and we both know that but it was a mistake that I started." He tried to explain.
"I appreciate you coming here and apologizing Mordred," Arthur said, his shoulders slumping slightly and losing their threatening look, "but whether or not you feel like it was your fault, Merlin still made the choice to... to snog you."
"I know," Mordred sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "but he loves you. I'm leaving, I think it's best that I don't stick around. Give Merlin another chance. We both know how incredible he is, despite his flaws which are few, he's still Merlin and no one can just stop loving Merlin." With that, he left Arthur's office, letting him think over what he said before he could argue him.
He left the office quietly, not wanting anyone to spot him leaving the building. He had one more stop before he could disappear. Mordred waited until Morgana had left before returning to their flat. He had packed his things the night before, so it only took him a couple minutes to load up his car. He went back inside for one last look around and to also grab the cash he knew Morgana hid around the place for emergencies. Stupid on her part, he thought, and probably not very nice of him but he didn't care, he would need it. He had already done some of the worst things he could imagine, taking a few thousand pounds from a millionaire was hardly something to cry over.
Taking one last look at the place, he drew in a deep breath and got in his car and head to the airport.
o.O.o.O.o
Gwaine called Lance and Merlin as soon as Mordred left. He would keep his promise to Mordred and tell them that he had just broken into Morgana's office early that morning and found the USB drive in her desk.
"How did you get the recording?" Merlin asked after hearing it, his stomach twisting with disgust at what Mordred had done.
"I overheard them talking in their office last night when they thought no one was listening." He lied, hoping no one would notice the flaws in his statement.
"At least we have it," Merlin sighed with relief, "if Freya can't stop it, the least we can do is prove that Arthur is innocent." The three of them smiled at each other. Merlin called Freya and she picked up the drive that afternoon.
After Freya left, Merlin was sitting in his office when Arthur knocked on the door and stepped inside.
"Arthur," Merlin immediately stood up and looked at his fiancé.
"We need to talk," He managed, looking at the floor uncomfortably. He hadn't anticipated it being this difficult to look at him.
"Ok," Merlin didn't question it, didn't want to do anything to upset Arthur so he just stood behind his desk, looking at him and waiting.
"Do you love me?" He finally asked, looking up from the floor.
"Yes," he replied without hesitation, "with all of my heart, Arthur I love you." He moved from around the desk but stopped half way to him, not wanting to move too fast. Arthur looked at him, searching Merlin's eyes for any sign of doubt or lies. "I am so sorry Arthur," he said again, trying to hold back the tears. Arthur closed the distance between them and pulled Merlin into his arms.
"I forgive you," he said as he buried his face in Merlin's neck. "Don't ever do that to me again though."
"I won't, I promise," Merlin cried, kissing Arthur's neck and holding him tightly. Arthur moved his mouth so that he could find Merlin's lips, kissing him hesitantly at first but eventually he had missed him too much and he was passionately kissing him in moments.
"Arthur," Merlin breathed as they pulled away and he slipped his hands up to run through his hair, "I love you."
"I love you too," he whispered, kissing his lips once more before pulling away. "Come home tonight?"
"Absolutely."
"We'll pick up your things from Lance's on the way home," he informed and kissed him again. Merlin grinned ear to ear.
"Ok," he kissed him back.
"I have to get back to work." Arthur finally whispered, pulling away from Merlin's mouth again.
"K," Merlin grinned and watched Arthur walk out. He couldn't believe what just happened, he felt all the worry, all the stress evaporate and was left feeling giddy. Arthur had forgiven him, everything was going to be ok.
Chapter Thirty Eight
The next couple of days went by in a blur of anxiety and relief for Merlin. He returned home with Arthur and never before had he felt so relieved than he did when he fell asleep that night in his arms. Of course, forgiving Merlin and actually moving past the incident with Mordred were two different things and Merlin knew it was going to take Arthur a while to trust him again. He wasn't dumb enough to believe that everything between them was right as rain again but at least they were getting somewhere now. He also wasn't about to complain when Arthur took him harder than he ever had before, leaving several bruises across his body and making it nearly impossible for Merlin to walk the next day. He was more than ok with the way Arthur wanted to work through the problem and said nothing about any discomfort he might have been in afterwards.
The anxiety though gnawed away at Merlin as he waited for Freya to come up with a counter-virus. After the initial happiness that Arthur wasn't going to leave him dissipated, he realized they were getting far too close for comfort. When Morgana claimed she needed to go to LA to check on things at that office, Merlin had to put his head between his knees and take deep breaths to avoid a panic attack. Mordred had disappeared, apparently he quit and Merlin was pretty sure that that was part of the plan with Morgana and then she left too. They were obviously leaving town, going to whatever hiding places they had set up to wait for the virus to do its work and Camelot was running out of time.
"Hello?" Merlin tiredly said into the phone. He glanced over at Arthur to check if he had woken up and was relieved when he saw he hadn't. He glanced at the clock; it was just after two am Monday night.
"I did it!" Freya screamed into the phone making Merlin wince and hold the phone away from his ear.
"Did what?" He groggily asked and then bolted up when her words sank in. "You did it?! You actually did it!?"
"I did! I got it and bloody hell I'm a fucking GOD!" She shouted triumphantly and Merlin scrambled out of bed, tripping on the sheets before catching himself and making his way into the hallway.
"That's amazing! Oh my god Freya, thank you!" He wanted to cry he was so relieved.
"One problem though," she said, effectively popping the happy bubble Merlin was in.
"What?"
"It's gonna take a long time to upload to the network and correct everything, like, a really long time. You should start it as soon as possible." She advised and Merlin chewed his lip.
"How long? Should Lance and I come pick it up now? Can it wait until morning?" He asked although he wasn't going to be able to wait until morning anyways. He wanted this over as soon as possible.
"I suppose, but I'm at your flat to drop it off." Said Freya and Merlin grinned.
"I'll be down in two minutes."
o.O.o.O.o
When Freya left after nearly being squished to death by Merlin's endless hugging, he called Lance.
"This had better be good," Lance growled into the phone and Merlin grinned ear to ear.
"Oh it is," he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet, "she did it, Freya just dropped it off. We can stop it Lance!" He was nearly bursting with excitement. He wanted to get this uploaded immediately, he didn't care that it was nearly three am; he just wanted this to be over.
"That's great," mumbled Lance tiredly.
"We need to upload it immediately though, it takes a while to upload and it also takes awhile to actually go through everything."
"Ok, I'll come pick you up," he said, unsuccessfully stifling a yawn.
"Great, I'll be outside." Merlin hung up and went back up the elevator. He padded down the hallway as quietly as he could manage, listening for Arthur's snores. He paused outside the door, holding his breath until he heard a particularly loud snore and then silently opened the door. He found a piece of paper and a pen and scribbled that Lance had an emergency and that he would be back by seven at the latest. Then he grabbed his bag, pulled on his shoes and went back down the elevator. It took Lance another five minutes before he pulled up to the curb. Merlin promptly climbed inside and held up the new USB stick.
"Is that it?" Lance asked, putting his car into gear and pulling back onto the deserted street.
"Yea," Merlin nodded and looked at it, "I can't believe it's almost over."
"Neither can I. I just hope that this works."
They drove in silence, both tired but anxious to get there. When they did arrive at Camelot, Lance stayed in the car while Merlin went inside. He told the security guard that he had forgotten an important file in his office and then went directly to Arthur's office. Merlin slipped inside and closed the door behind him. He quickly went to his computer, turned it on and waited. This was it, this was the final moment and when it was uploaded, it would all be over. He had managed to get Arthur back and now he just needed to secure Camelot. He let out a shaky breath as he logged onto his computer and pushed the USB stick into the drive. The folder opened and Merlin clicked on the program, Anti-Camlann. He watched as it started to upload and grinned. He would get it in the morning before Arthur came into his office.
"Did you get it?" Lance asked as Merlin got back into the car.
"Yea, it's uploading now." He said and buckled his seatbelt. "Let's just hope that it uploads before Arthur gets in. Otherwise he'll see it and we'll have to explain to him why we didn't tell him about Morgana's plan."
"Why didn't we?" He asked, glancing over at Merlin.
"We wanted definite proof and then Uther died and Arthur was overwhelmed with taking over the company. We still didn't have any proof until recently anyway and there would have been no point in telling him without a way to fix it." He answered and Lance nodded.
"Right, so are we going to tell him now?"
"I guess, but maybe we should wait until it works?"
"No, I think he might murder us if we did that," Lance stated honestly, "I mean I would if I were him."
"True," Merlin agreed, "suppose we should tell him then."
"I think it would be a good idea now." He advised and Merlin nodded his agreement. Lance dropped him off at home, wished him good luck and then drove away. Merlin watched him go and then turned back and went inside. He rode the lift up, mulling over what he would say to Arthur in the morning. He was expecting Arthur to still be asleep but when the lift opened, the kitchen lights were on and Arthur was sitting at the bar.
"Hey," Merlin greeted weakly.
"Everything with Lance ok?" Arthur asked before finishing his glass of water.
"Uh yea, Lance is fine. What are you doing up?" Merlin walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water, trying to decide if now was the best time or not.
Arthur shrugged, "I got thirsty and then you weren't here so I thought I'd stay up and wait."
"Oh, that was sweet," he smiled and leaned across the island to kiss him gently. Arthur smiled back and winked at him. "There's something we should talk about though," Merlin's smile faded as he looked at him nervously.
"What?" Arthur asked hesitantly and Merlin could tell he was afraid Merlin was going to confess something terrible, probably about Mordred.
"There's something I should have told you," He started and Arthur shifted anxiously.
"About Mordred?"
"No," he shook his head and leaned against the counter, "about Morgana." He slowly started to explain what had been going on for the past five months. He thought it would be easier but he couldn't help but feel guilty for hiding the truth from Arthur for so long.
"How could you not tell me?!" Arthur roared when Merlin had finished.
"We didn't have any proof! Would you seriously have believed us if we came to you saying that Morgana was behind all this?" He replied calmly and Arthur shook his head in frustration.
"I thought we agreed on no more secrets?"
"We did and I'm telling you," Merlin frowned, this really wasn't going as planned. "Morgana's already left for LA, she's probably skipping town though. The updated program is uploading now and everything will be ok."
"And if Freya hadn't been able to create the program?" He shot back, hands on his hips.
"I don't know," he said honestly, "but I couldn't tell you before. Think about it Arthur. If it became public knowledge that Camelot's security had been breached and that HM was investigating, what do you think would have happened? If we had told you, you would have gone to the authorities right away without a second thought but then Morgana still would have won. Camelot's reputation would have been ruined and with Uther's death, that was the last thing you needed." He explained and slowly Arthur started to realize the truth in his words. He didn't like it, he hated the fact that he had been left out but he could at least acknowledge that Merlin was right.
He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, "ok, you're right. So now what?"
"Now we wait for the program to do its work," Merlin let out a relieved sigh and walked around the island to stand in front of Arthur. He reached out with his hands and rubbed his shoulders, letting his fingers knit into the hair at the base of his neck. "It will be alright. Freya's program will work and once it's done, we can deal with Morgana."
"What are we going to do?" Arthur asked, pulling Merlin to him and resting his forehead against his.
"I don't know, I think it's up to you." He replied quietly and closed his eyes.
"I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. I can't believe that she would do this to me," he said sadly.
"I know, but she's allowed her bitterness to consume her." Merlin said with a sigh and buried his face in Arthur's neck. Arthur's hands slipped around Merlin as he hugged him.
"Maybe I shouldn't do anything. Let her think that she's won, let her get away." He said carefully as he considered his options. The idea of having to turn her into the authorities made him sick. No matter what she'd done, she was still his sister and he couldn't turn his back on that. He also couldn't let her get off scot free. He sighed and kissed Merlin's neck. He would have to talk to her but not until he was sure she had lost.
Morning came quickly. Merlin and Arthur weren't able to go back to sleep but stayed up and watched TV. When it was finally ready to go to work, they both hustled and headed in a little bit early as they both wanted the check on the progress. They slipped into Arthur's office and were relieved when it showed that it had completely uploaded.
"So now what?" Arthur asked, looking over at Merlin.
"I guess it just does what it's supposed to do. Freya said it'll take awhile though, I'm assuming several hours." He said vaguely.
"How will we know it's done?"
Merlin shrugged, "I guess it'll pop up saying it's been completed?"
"That's helpful," he teased and Merlin stuck out his tongue.
"Let me know when it's done!" He said as he walked to the door, "I have phone calls to make on your behalf," he winked and left. Arthur watched him go and once he was gone he turned back to his computer. He opened up his email and typed in Morgana's email address. He needed to say something to her but he wasn't entirely sure what. What could he possibly say to someone who betrayed him so deeply?
He rubbed his face and leaned back in his chair, staring at the blank screen in front of him. Arthur thought back to the first time he met Morgana. She had just lost her mother and was so incredibly angry at Uther. She trashed her room; broke everything that could possibly be broken, she screamed and shouted and he remembered thinking that she was completely mad. He never thought he would ever like her or enjoy spending time with her but eventually he came to love her. He wouldn't admit this to anyone, but it was nice having her around. She was his sister and he had loved her and wanted to protect her from everything. Unfortunately, he couldn't protect her from Uther; they were both helpless to their father's demands. It was rare, but there were times when Uther's anger was taken out physically on them but hardly ever on Morgana. That was one thing Arthur had made sure to protect her from. He closed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest, wondering when it was that her hurt had turned to hatred and why she hated him so much. Thinking about what she had done made his insides twist painfully and his breath catch. She was the only family he had left and now she had completely betrayed him. He sighed heavily and opened his eyes and leaned forward.
Dear Morgana, he started. He went on to write everything he had been feeling, somehow managing to put it into words. He knew if he had had to have this conversation with her in person, he would never be able to articulate himself nearly as well as he was in the email. When he had written everything, Arthur saved the draft for later. He would send it after the program was done.
The program finished just after twelve o-clock in the afternoon. Just as Merlin thought, a box popped up on the screen saying "Camelot is safe now, Camlann has been destroyed". Arthur called Merlin, Lance and Gwaine into his office and they all let out a collective sigh of relief.
"So it's done then?" Gwaine asked and Merlin nodded.
"Yea,"
"I wonder what Morgana's doing..." Lance thought out loud and the others fell silent as they wondered the same.
Morgana was sitting on a long chair, the gentle lull of the ocean lapped at the shore and the hot Brazilian sun hung high in the air. Morgause was on her way and any minute now, she would get the confirmation that Camlann had completed its task and Camelot would be ruined. She felt giddy with excitement when her tablet beeped. She lifted her sunglasses up and opened the tablet but what she saw made her stomach drop and the blood leave her face.
For the love of Camelot! A mouse in a suit of armor shouted and then laughed on her screen.
"What the hell?" She shouted out loud and sat up straight, "No... no..." She shook her head and quickly opened up the bank accounts she had set up and screamed when they remained empty. "No!" She shrieked angrily.
New Email another message popped up and out of habit, she clicked on it. Her mouth dried as the email from Arthur was titled "Goodbye Morgana". She drew in a deep breath, held her chin high and opened the email.
Dear Morgana,
I've just been informed about what you have been planning all year and I don't know what to say. I suppose I can understand your anger towards Uther, after all, he wasn't the kind of father either of us deserved. I know that he hurt you, a lot. He rejected you and didn't give you the love that a father should have and for that, I am sincerely sorry. I wish that I could have changed that but unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about the past.
Do you really hate me that much? Are you really that full of resentment that you would try to destroy Camelot? I can forgive you for betraying me. I know that Uther never treated us equally and after everything, I understand why you would want to hurt me. But I cannot forgive what you have tried to do to everyone else here. Your actions would have not only destroyed my life, but the lives of thousands of others. Camelot may have been nothing to you, but to the people that work here it is their livelihood. There are good people here, innocent people who have not wronged you in any way and yet you would have seen them lose everything. I cannot forgive that and I am sorry for that. I am sorry for everything that Uther did. I am sorry for the heartbreak and the pain and I forgive you for what you've done to me.
A friend of Merlin's created a program to reverse everything that your virus, Camlann, did. All the documents that have been corrupted and altered have been corrected. All the money you tried to take has been returned and all traces of Camlann in the network have been destroyed. Of course, that was after it gathered all the evidence of tampering and securely saved it. I also have a recording of you confessing your plan to Mordred and I will hold onto it in case you decide to ever show your face in England again. If you come near me, Merlin or anyone who works at Camelot again, I will be sending everything to the authorities. I suggest you stay gone, Morgana. I hope you some day find happiness.
Goodbye dear sister.
Sincerely,
Arthur
The End.
AN: If you feel like this ending was too abrupt, or incomplete, please let me know. I'm not sure how I feel about it myself, so hearing other people's opinions would help. And of course, if you all don't like it, I promise to give you an epilogue.