The Kindness of Strangers

"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.- Luke 6:35

Hello, hope you are having a good day. This is an AU to The Kindness of Strangers.

Merlin was taken away by Killgarrah. It was night and it was cold out. Killgarrah put an unconscious Merlin on the forest floor and left knowing that Merlin could last long enough for the knights to get to him. Killgarrah did not know that Merlin was very sick. Merlin didn't know that he was sick when he left Camelot. Slowly Merlin woke up. He looked around but was weak. He was shivering. Merlin slowly rolled so that he was on his side. He felt very nauseous and vomited next to him. After a few minutes of vomiting Merlin finally stopped. He moved slightly so the he wasn't so close to the vomit. He tried to take a deep breath but it turned into a coughing fit. Merlin coughed for a while. When it was over he panted weakly. He weakly stood up and stumbled through the woods.

For an hour he stumbled. He heard twigs snapping and stopped. He looked around but saw nothing. Just as he was about to start walking again he was raped. Merlin tried to get away but couldn't. They abused Merlin and harmed him any way they could. Merlin cried and told them to stop but they wouldn't. After several minutes they left him alone. Merlin laid on the ground shaking like a leaf. He found his pants and put them on. He grabbed his jacket and wrapped it around him to help him stay warm. He managed to get up and started stumbling again.

Merlin was almost at Camelot when he realized something. He realized that he had 2 wounds. He knew that when he was raped one of the guys wounded him. The branches and twigs scraped Merlin's skin causing him to bleed. When he got to the gate he snuck past the guards. He weakly stumbled to Gaius' chamber. When he got to the stairs he climbed the steps leaving a trail of blood behind. It took him several minutes to get to the top. He saw Gaius' door and smiled slightly. When he got to the door he collapsed. He tried to get up but failed. He pulled his coat over his shoulders as he felt a gust of wind hit him. He knew he had a fever but he felt too weak to get up or knock on Gaius' door. He fell asleep on the floor and as he fell to the ground he hit Gaius' door.

Gaius was still up waiting for Merlin. When he heard the bang he went to the door. Gaius went to the door and opened it. When he saw Merlin he gasped. It was dawn and Gaius knew that a few of the servants were up. He saw one of the servants pass by.

"You, go tell the king that I need his help." Gaius ordered. The servant ran to Arthur's chambers and got him. Gaius bent down and checked Merlin's vital signs. He put his hand on Merlin's head and found it burning hot. Merlin moaned and his eyes fluttered opened.

"Gaius?" Merlin hoarsely moaned.

"Merlin, can you get up?"

"No. I feel so weak. I feel so cold."

"When Arthur gets here he'll help you into bed. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I was…wounded. It… hurts."

"Don't try to stress yourself. You're sick. 3 nights ago I was getting ready to go to bed when I heard you cough. I went up to check on you. You were asleep. I checked you and found that you were coming down with the plague I saw in the lower town. I managed to get you to drink something to help you not get sick but now you're worse."

Then Arthur came.

"Gaius, what is it?" Arthur asked.

"I need you to help Merlin get to bed. Yesterday he was collecting herbs and was attacked. He's too weak to tell me but he has the sickness that I told you about." Gaius explained. Arthur came over and picked Merlin up. He carried Merlin to the patient's cot. When he put Merlin on the bed he saw that Merlin had been raped and wounded.

"Gaius, I think he was raped." Arthur loudly said. Gaius came over and looked at Merlin's wounds.

"He was raped and abused, Sire. When he strong enough he'll tell us but for now he needs sleep." Gaius answered sadly. Gaius saw that Merlin had fallen asleep and knew that Merlin needed it. Gaius got what he needed and went to work cleaning and stitching Merlin's wounds. When Gaius finished cleaning and treating all of Merlin's wounds even the wounds on Merlin's legs, he took the blankets and covered Merlin up. He went to Merlin's room and got the blankets and pillows. He gave the blankets to Arthur who put them on Merlin.

"He's struggling o breath. These pillows will help. He's cold. Those blankets hopefully will help warm him up. He should be ok." Gaius explained. For and few days, Merlin was very sick and weak but slowly began to recover. Merlin was always vomiting and coughing when he was awake the first few days. He had a very high fever and was feeling very cold. When Merlin was asleep his dreams were plagued with nightmares. He often woke up screaming and sweating. Slowly Merlin's strength returned. Merlin told Arthur what happened and knew that part of it was a lie. After 2 and a half weeks of being in bed resting, Merlin was finally returned to work. Merlin still had nightmares but it wasn't bad.

THE END