Chapter 36

"Have you slept?" Gwen asked Merlin from across the aisle when she woke up.

"Yeah," Merlin lied with a smile.

Guinevere glanced at her husband who was leaning against her with his head on her shoulder, snoring loudly. She giggled, "How long has he been doing that?"

Merlin smirked, "About an hour."

Gwen rolled her eyes and pinched Lance's nose to silence his snoring. He snuffled and moved his head away but the snoring ceased.

"Auntie Gwen?" Luke appeared in the aisle between them.

"Yes, honey?"

"I need the toilet."

Gwen glanced over her shoulder at Luke's parents. They were both fast asleep. "Come on, then, I'll show you where it is."

Merlin waited while Gwen took Luke's hand, walked him to the toilet and stood outside while he used it. By the time they got back, Merlin had closed his eyes and was feigning sleep. He couldn't shake the awful feeling he had in his stomach and didn't want to be questioned about it. The simple solution seemed to just be avoid them completely. He sat for several hours, forcing his breathing to be slow and his body to remain limp. He heard Arthur wake up and engage in conversation with Gwen, happy to detect no signs of discomfort in his husband's voice. He was just beginning to wonder how long he could get away with faking when Arthur shook him 'awake' for food.

"You ok?" Arthur asked quietly, "You don't look well."

"Funny feeling," Merlin said, "I don't know what it is."

"Are you worried about the flight because of what happened on the way to Ireland?"

"No, it's not that."

Arthur took his hand, "It'll be ok."

"How long until we land?"

"Still another eight hours. Just over half way there."

Merlin sighed, "It feels like we should be further than that."

"You can go back to sleep once we've eaten."

"I'm surprised you can stomach food while we're on a plane," Merlin teased, swiftly directing the conversation away from himself.

"Me too."

Once they'd eaten, Merlin picked up his book and read for a few hours. Arthur twisted in his seat and chatted to Gwaine and Percy who were sitting behind them.

"That funny feeling gone yet?" Arthur asked him a couple of hours later.

Merlin shook his head, "How long left?"

"Three and a half hours."

Merlin groaned, put his book down and rubbed his eyes.

"You weren't sleeping earlier, were you?"

Merlin shook his head. Arthur pushed the armrest which was in between them down and pulled Merlin closer to him. They adjusted themselves so that they were in a comfortable position and Arthur kissed the top of Merlin's head. Within minutes, Arthur's arms around him, the sound of his steady heartbeat and Merlin's own exhaustion had him dead asleep.

"Is he ok?" Gwaine asked through the gap between the seats.

Arthur twisted his head a little bit, "Just tired."

"He sounded worried about something."

"You were listening?"

"Arthur, mate, we're sitting less than a meter away from each other. It's hard not to hear you."

"He's fine," Arthur said, turning back to face the other way.

With great reluctance, Arthur woke Merlin up just less than hour before they were meant to land so that he could go to the toilet.

"How's the funny feeling?"

"Worse," Merlin said sadly, "Something's going to happen, Arthur. I know it."

"It'll be fine. We're nearly home."

They held hands tightly until the announcement came that they needed to put their seatbelts on. At that point, Merlin scooted back into his seat properly and Arthur put his hand on Merlin's thigh in comfort.

Pretty much the second the plane had stopped on the runway, a man a few rows in front of where Merlin, Arthur and everyone were sitting, stood up and raised his hand in the air, revealing a gun curled in his fist. He shot the roof of the plane and everyone started screaming. Merlin's heart plummeted and he squeezed Arthur's hand. He was probably the only person on the plane who'd been shot before and knew how painful it was. Instinctively, his hand twitched to his side where he'd once received a bullet.

"Shut up!" the man yelled, "All of you! Quiet!" His accent was American. He vanished into the pilot's cabin and returned a few seconds later with both the pilot and the co-pilot. "Open the door."

He walked up the aisle and stopped when he reached Merlin's group. "Everyone can go except these three rows."

No one really needed clarification of who the three rows were. The first row was Merlin, Arthur, Gwen and Lancelot in two pairs of seats on either side of the aisle. Behind them- Gwaine and Percival on one side opposite Belle, Eira and Will in a set of three. And then at the back, in another set of three, Morgana, Leon and Luke.

"Don't get your bags," the man instructed to the rest of the flight, "Just go."

People swamped the exit immediately.

"Let the kids go," Lancelot attempted, only to receive a bullet in his leg. He roared in pain and bent over, pressing both his hands over the wound. Gwen screamed in horror, everyone else yelled in protest and the kids started crying. Will tried to climb through the gap between his parents' chairs to get to them.

The man turned his gun on Will, "All of you be quiet or he gets a bullet through his head."

"Will, darling, daddy's ok," Gwen said, "Just sit back down."

Lancelot was now leaning back in his chair, breathing heavily and face pale while Gwen stroked his hair with one hand and put the other firmly over his wound.

The man kept the gun pointed at the children, "You can all go," he said, "Under a few conditions. One- your business closes within the next day. And two," he pointed at Merlin, "He stays."

"No," Gwaine said immediately, "If one of us stays, all of us stay."

"Gwaine don't be stupid," Merlin said, "Get the kids out, get Lancelot help."

"Stop being a hero, Merlin."

"You can't put me above your daughter."

"Be quiet. Those are the conditions. You refuse, I put a bullet in someone's heart and then I'll ask again."

"Why do you want the business closed?" Leon asked.

"What you do is wrong. You're all freaks who help people that don't deserve to live."

Everyone flinched. They knew there were people in the world who had horrible prejudices concerning race, sexuality and disability but it was still difficult sometimes to come to terms with just how far some of those people would go.

"And we die if we don't agree to close down? That doesn't stop the business, there are people who can run it instead. All it does is show people you're a bast-"

"Gwaine," Percival growled, "Stop talking."

The man grabbed Eira and pulled her out of her seat, pressing his gun to her head, "This one yours?"

Gwaine's eyes turned thunderous, "Get away from her."

"Do you want her dead?"

"No."

"Then shut up," he pushed Eira towards her fathers who scooped her up and sat her in between them.

Everyone was still and silent for a while, the only noises being the children's sniffling and Lancelot's grunts of pain.

"You're really all going to put a job before your own lives and your children's lives?" the man demanded, "I could kill you all in a matter of seconds."

"Then you're arrested and the business thrives in our honour," Arthur said simply, "All you'll have achieved is twelve murders, a life time in prison, and the exact opposite of what you want."

"You think you'll be hailed as martyrs?"

"I think that once the story gets out and people who what happened and who we were and why we died, they'll be furious. Everyone who's ever been to one of our hotels or centres will be furious. But we'll have died for them so that they continue to have the peace and happiness that they have whenever they walk through any set of doors belonging to Albion."

The man glared at him.

"Besides," Morgana said, "You haven't done your research properly."

"I've done plenty of research."

"Then tell me," she said, "How many people own Albion?"

"Nine."

"And how many of those are here?"

He hesitated and then counted, "Eight."

"Someone isn't here," Morgana said confidently, "By killing us, you'd only be doing exactly what you don't want to do."

"The one who isn't here is the best of us," Gwen said smiling with pride and turning her attention away from her husband momentarily in favour of sticking up for her brother, "He never takes time off, he'll always step in and do anything anyone asks without complaint. He believes in what we do more than any of us. So go ahead, give him reason to be even better. Give him the chance to run a business alone better than he could have done with eight other people."

"You're playing a dangerous game."

A set of men all with dangerous and terrifying guns appeared at the door to the plane. "Put your weapon down!" one of them shouted.

The man grabbed Morgana and held her in front of him so she was blocking any clear fire the police would have at him. He pointed his own gun at Gwaine and fired once. His aim was off and the bullet only scraped Gwaine's side before embedding itself in the seat. Gwaine choked in pain and surprise but wasn't seriously injured.

"I can kill all of them before you've even fired once at me," the man claimed.

"Let's compromise," one of the police said, "Let us take the children and the injured and we'll listen to what it is you want and help you."

"You'll listen to me whether you have them anyway," the man instructed, "But fine. You take seven, and I'll keep five."

"Seven?" the police was cut off once more by the deafening sound of the gun being fired, straight into Leon's elbow. He made a similar scream to what Lancelot had produced ten minutes ago.

"Go," the man said.

Gwaine was reluctant but the presence of the police seemed to give him more faith that his friends would be alright and he got to his feet, wincing in pain. He helped Lancelot up and practically carried him down the aisle to the exit. Eira followed right at his heel, having been ushered out of her seat by Percival. Will ran after them to be with his dad. The man shot the floor just behind Will's feet causing him to yelp, stumble and fall. One of the police men stepped forward and picked him up while the man holding them all hostage just laughed. He stepped to the side, dragging Morgana with him, so that Leon and Luke could get past. Leon was cradling his arm to his chest and his face was pinched in pain. He spat at the man's feet as he passed then guided his son off the plane to safety.

"I promised we'd help you," the police said, "Why are you doing this? What have these people done to you?"

"They don't deserve their success," the man said, "What they do is horrible!"

"Do they deserve to die for it?"

"I only wanted them to close down."

"And they refused?"

"They said it doesn't matter what happens to them; their business stays open for the people they help."

"I know we said we'd help you but unless there are legal grounds, we cannot close their business. I'm sorry."

The man put his finger of the trigger of the gun and placed the barrel right above Morgana's ear.

"Who are you?" the police asked, "What's your name?"

"Alined."

"Ok, Alined, you're not from here, are you?"

"No."

"You're from Wyoming? That's where the plane came from right?"

"It's not where I'm from, though."

"So you've travelled a long way just to do this. And it hasn't paid off. But you don't have to hurt anyone else. How can we help you?"

"Close them down!"

"Why?"

"You're in no position to ask questions," he pressed his finger down a bit and Morgana flinched. "You do as I say or she dies."

"And then I fire this gun and you die too. It's not worth it."

"Tell us what your problems are and we'll try to fix them just like we do with any other person with a complaint or improvement," Gwen said.

"My complaint is that you exist!"

"You don't have to have anything to do with them," the police reminded him, "Their lives have nothing to do with yours."

"I've gone this far! You'll arrest me whatever happens, I might as well-" something inside him seemed to snap and he went crazy. He pushed Morgana to onside and began spinning in circles shooting randomly. All five of them ducked down and covered their heads, making themselves as small as possible. Merlin felt Arthur throw himself over him and cover him with his own body.

Eventually, the noises all stopped and there was a thudding noise. Merlin raised his head. Alined was lying on the floor with a shot wound in his chest. When he realised his husband hadn't moved yet, Merlin instinctively panicked, "Arthur!"

"I'm ok," Arthur sat up and studied Merlin, "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." They hugged each other tightly, kissed briefly then turned to check on the rest of their friends. Gwen had her hand, which was now covered in her own blood as well as Lancelot's, over her ear, covering a wound where a bullet had scraped the side of her head and nicked the top of her ear. Percival was staring strangely at a round which had hit his bicep but was sticking out his jacket, partly in his muscle, partly in his clothes and with the end just poking out.

"What is your jacket made of?" Arthur asked with a shocked chuckle.

Percival grinned and looked to Morgana. Gwen was sitting in the chair next to her, hugging her closely. Arthur stood up, hopped over Merlin's seat and fell by his sister's side, "Morgs?"

She looked up at him and pain was evident in her eyes immediately. Gwen moved out the way slightly to reveal Morgana's abdomen. She was clutching her side with shaking hands but blood was seeping through her shirt.

"Oh my god," Arthur's face blanched. His gaze flicked between her face and her wound, completely focused on Morgana so not on the man on the floor. Alined, somehow not yet dead- had raised his gun and pointed it uncertainly at Arthur who was right in his eyeline. It took less than a few seconds.

Arthur fell to the side, not even having the chance to look surprised. Merlin screamed in horror and dropped out of his seat, right beside Arthur, tears falling already. The bullet had gone right through Arthur's chest, terrifyingly close to his heart.

"Arthur!" Merlin's voice was raw and agonising, "No, Arthur! Arthur! No, no, no, no, no!" His heart shattered and streamed out his eyes as tears. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't see, he couldn't feel. Because it was terrifyingly possible that the most important person in his whole world had just been killed right in front of him.

He didn't really remember much of the next hour. Someone must have carried him off the plane because he hadn't attached his prosthetic and there was no way he could have hopped well enough given his condition.

Those who had the least worrying injuries- Gwaine, Percival and Gwen- were sitting with the children outside when Merlin joined them. Paramedics were with them but they hadn't been taken to hospital yet in case someone received a worse injury and the ambulance was needed.

Gwaine was taken next in a vehicle which he insisted Merlin come in. Elyan was on his way to the airport so was going to take the kids home and look after them until someone could come.

"Merlin," Gwaine called his name for the hundredth time. He was sitting up in his bed in A&E, waiting for someone to come to clean and stitch up his graze. Merlin was sitting in a chair beside him, head in his hands and sobbing. "Merlin!"

Merlin raised his head.

"When you were with him," Gwaine swallowed thickly, "Was he- was he alive?"

"I don't know," Merlin choked, "I couldn't tell."

It was horribly ironic. When Alined had first shown himself on the plane and held the gun up, Merlin had been scared because he was the only one who'd been shot before. Now, Gwaine had suffered a bullet in his side, Percy in his arm, Gwen to her ear, Lancelot in his leg, Morgana in her abdomen, Leon in his elbow and Arthur to the heart. Merlin had been the only one to get off the plane without an injury caused by the gun.

Merlin hated being the one who was constantly sick or hurt. But the selfish part of him was starting to think that he'd prefer any ailment to this. He could have already seen his husband alive for the last time and not even known.

He stood up and grabbed the crutches he'd been provided on a temporary basis so he could move around, "I need-" his voice failed, "Sorry, Gwaine, I'll be back in a second."

Gwaine nodded sadly and watched him leave. He turned to look at Gwen who was sitting on the bed beside his and they shared solemn looks. "You were there," Gwaine said, "How bad was it?"

"Bad," Gwen whispered.

"Where was the wound?"

Gwen pointed to her heart, "Right there."

Merlin hopped over to the nurses' desk. He vaguely remembered being told his cabin bag had been dropped off there earlier. Elyan had taken as many of the suitcases as he could manage in his car with the kids and arranged to have the rest looked after so he could collect them another time.

Once the bag had been handed over, Merlin rifled through it, refusing to look and only using his hands so he wouldn't have to see Arthur's possessions, until his fingers curled around his phone. There was only one person he could really call in a situation like this that wasn't Arthur. The same person Arthur called when Merlin was in a similar position.

"Mum?" he asked timidly when the ringing stopped, crossing his fingers on both hands that she would be in a good mood. It didn't even occur to him that it was only a few hours after midnight and she'd almost definitely be asleep.

"Merlin, honey, are you ok?"

Merlin broke down in tears again and could do nothing but cry for a few minutes. Hunith comforted him as best she could down the phone with no idea what was happening.

"It's Arthur, mum," he stuttered, "He-"

With great difficulty and lots of patience from Hunith, Merlin managed to explain everything to her. "He's going to die, mum," he wailed, "He might already be dead."

"He's not," Hunith said, "You'd know."

"No one's spoken to me yet, I-"

"I don't mean because you'd have been told," Hunith said, "You'd be able to feel it."

"I can't feel anything," Merlin said.

"And you know how horrible it is to lose someone. You know what it feels like, Merlin. It feels horrible, it doesn't feel like nothing. Do you really think that losing Arthur, the person you love more than any other person in the entire universe, would feel like nothing?"

"What if he doesn't survive?"

"He will."

"It was through his heart, mum, it-"

"He will be ok. You always come back to him. Now it's his turn to come back to you."

"I'm scared."

"I know."

By the time Merlin had finished talking to his mother, Percival had arrived in the last ambulance and he, Gwaine and Gwen were all discharged and ready to go and find out about everyone else. Merlin apologised for leaving them but he'd barely finished his sentence before Gwen threw herself at him and hugged him tightly.

"How's Lance?" Merlin asked.

"He's in theatre, getting the bullet out. He'll be ok."

Merlin sighed in relief, "Good."

"Come on," Gwaine but his arm over Merlin's back, "Let's go find everyone else."

It only took a few questions to a nurse to find out that Arthur was in surgery, too but it wasn't looking good. That made Merlin's heart sink, not that he'd thought it could go much lower. He didn't really listen to the updates on the rest of his friends. He was too concerned about Arthur.

Before he knew it, Gwen was sitting him down in the café with Gwaine and Percival. It was nearly sunrise which was surprising. The plane had landed at eleven, they'd probably left the airport a short while after midnight. Which meant they'd been at the hospital about five hours already.

The café was closed but the seats were still available to be sat in so Gwaine went over to the vending machine and got them all a bottle of water and a snack. Merlin guzzled the water down but didn't touch the food. No one mentioned it.

Gwen's phone rang. "Elyan?" She put the phone on speaker so everyone could hear.

"The kids are all asleep," Elyan said, "It took a while but they're ok."

"Thank you so much for taking them."

"Of course. How is everyone?"

"Gwaine, Percival and Merlin are here with me we're ok. Lance has had the bullet removed, he'll be ok. Morgana's in surgery now but they think she'll be fine too. The bullet went straight through Leon's elbow but he was lucky, there doesn't seem to be much nerve damage, he just needs it sewn up."

"And Arthur?"

Gwen glanced at Merlin, "We don't know yet."

"Do you need me to come and pick anyone up?"

"We're staying," Gwaine said, "And your house is full enough as it is. Four kids, three dogs, a cat and a baby. And only one that belongs to you. You've done plenty."

"I just wish I was there to help."

"What you're doing is far more important than what we're doing," Gwen said, "We'll keep you up to date."

"Get some rest, if you can," Elyan said, "Our love to everyone."

Merlin rubbed his eyes and let out a sigh, propped his elbows up on the table and buried his head in his hands. He was terrified. It was clear that the doctors didn't have much hope and his friends were starting to lose theirs too. He didn't want to do the same. Arthur was everything to him. And as cheesy as that sounded, it was true. Merlin couldn't live without Arthur. The longest they'd been apart in years was a mere couple of days and even then, they called regularly. The thought of never seeing him again made Merlin want to drop dead right there. It was too much to even think about Arthur getting the flu or a grazed knee. Being shot in the heart was billions of times worse. He couldn't help but think of the worst. Arthur not surviving, their last interaction being a quick kiss on a plane, believing they were safe after survive a shooting.

Merlin would have to go home to a house he was meant to share, look after dogs who'd lost an owner and sit at a desk to do a job alone that should be for two. He'd chop the bed in half and burn Arthur's side before sleeping in it alone. He'd rip every photo they had together so Arthur was no longer in it before looking at how happy they'd been together and how sad he now was. He'd personally hunt down every single copy of his book which had been printed and throw them all in the tip before having one more person read their story together.