A/N: It was going to be a one-shot, but I have had a few people say they want it to continue so umm yeah. Also, for last names in case you didn't notice or were confused my Gaius' and so on, if in the series they aren't given a last name then they get the last name of the actor that portrays them or they may get a last name based on their role in the series, e.g. Freya Lake, whilst Merlin just gets Emrys because in legend he has so many last names and might as well. *shrugs* Anyway, on with the extra-long one-shot that has now become a multiple chapter story.

Disclaimer: Nothing's changed, I do not own Merlin (but maybe in another dimension or something I do? Probably not but one can dream :P).

They had been there for hours, and yet still Arthur hadn't managed to get anything out of the two men that had been taken into questioning. Somehow the taller one (and by far more annoying in Arthur's opinion) had gotten his hands on an apple and was munching away (#GiveGwaineHisApple2021). He kept making jokes and was really starting to grate on Arthurs nerves. The other one, Will, just sat there in silence, leaving the talking to his friend. "Mr. Macken, you realize you were caught with a wanted fugitive, so if I were you, I really wouldn't be acting so high and mighty."

In answer to this Gwaine simply rolled his eyes and leaned forward, elbows on the table and half eaten apple forgotten in his hand. "Look Inspector, I believe it's your job to ensure that everything is right and abides the law, yes?" Arthur nodded, a little unsure as to where he was going with this. "Then why are you here, interrogating us, people who just happened to be with a friend when you probably should be making an investigation into the going on's within the institute?" This took Arthur by surprise, "I already know what goes on there. They ensure sorcerers and magic users are contained and can't cause themselves or others harm."

Gwaine raised an eyebrow and Will sat forward, shaking his head a little. "That's what they tell you? That they ensure that their experiments can't halm themselves or anyone else?" Gwaine scoffed. "A little one sided, huh, they can harm them but those they harm can't protect themselves." Now Arthur was extremely confused, and quite sure that Gwaine wasn't sane. He had called those taken there 'experiments', why?

Will seemed to notice Arthur's disbelief, so after shooting Gwaine a warning look he piped up, "Inspector, have you actually ever been in the Institute? Have you ever actually seen what goes on or do you just take another's word that it is there for the wellbeing of those held there? Merlin was held there before, and barely managed to escape with his life. People that go in never come back out, Merlin was the exception to this, but he's back there now and who knows what's happening to him right as we speak!"

Arthur was too surprised to say anything. The Institute had been around since he was born, and these men were saying that it wasn't in actual fact for the good of those who went in. He didn't know what to think. He just sat there for a minute, composing himself before standing up and walking out of the interrogation room. He went over to his desk and quickly typed up the Institute in the search engine. There was nothing. He couldn't find anything on it. He signaled to Leon and Percival who quickly came over.

"What do you two know about the Institute?"

~0o0~

Gwaine, although seemingly calm on his exterior, was in actual fact a mess on the inside. He was worried about Merlin. He could still remember that night 5 years ago when a half dead and soaking wet Merlin appeared on his door steps. He could still remember the panic at the sight of the half dead boy, because he could hardly be called an adult at that point, whom he along with everyone else had believed to be dead, along with the relief that he was still alive.

It had taken weeks for Merlin to heal, months before he opened up to anyone. Even Gaius couldn't get anything out of him before Merlin decided to tell Will, Gwaine and Gaius what happened.

What he described had sickened all three of the men listening. The boy had suffered, been treated inhumanely. He had told them about many of his scars, but there were some that even to this day, no one other than Merlin and those that caused them knew truly how he got them. Gwaine knew his friend had tried to protect them from hearing what had happened to him, and had left out a lot to his story, but even from the fragments of info they received, they knew Merlin had gone through hell.

And now the demons had his friend once more.

Gwaine promised himself then and there in the holding cell that he would do anything he could to save his friend from the fate worse than death he was currently going through, and bring him back home safely.

~0o0~

6 years ago

The first thing Merlin became aware of was the odd beeping sounds around him. Second the pounding headache in his temple and the feeling that something wasn't there that should be. He went to raise a hand to his head but realised he couldn't move at all, no matter how much he struggled.

Slowly he opened his eyes, which were immediately met by a bright light right over head. After blinking a bit, he became accustomed to the light and looked down at himself, as far as he could without being able to move his head.

He was wearing a hospital type gown with leads and wires protruding from all over his body, hooked up to strange machines and drips. He was strapped down to some kind of table by his hands, arms, legs and chest, and something was keeping his head in place, preventing him from being able to look at anything behind him.

He tried to use his magic to break the bindings but couldn't find it, as if he had been cut off from it. He started to panic but managed to calm himself down. After thinking for a bit, he decided he would see what would happen and work out how to escape when he knew more of what was going on.

He was looking at one of the machines which had numbers slowly rising, when a door somewhere behind him opened. He heard the sound of multiple people walking into the room and working at different areas, all out of sight. A man with short cropped hair and a long scar across his forehead stepped into his line of sight, followed by a woman with long, blond curls and deep brown eyes with a cruel gleam in them and a man with greying hair and a smirk that sent chills down his spine.

The two that had followed behind went to look at the different machines and jotted down some of their readings, whilst the first man came up to Merlin's side where he looked down at the restrained Warlock. "What do you want from me?" The man gave Merlin a calculating look before nodding to the woman who stepped forward with something in her grasp. Faster than Merlin could keep track, she plunged the needle into his arm and pressed the plunger.

Merlin screamed as the liquid entered his veins. The pain was like nothing he had ever felt before. The man lent down and spoke right next to his ear, "You would do well to keep your mouth shut." Merlin looked at the man from the side, fighting back tears. "You are here as you are going to…help us. The power you and other monsters wield is too powerful for any one person, so with the help of these lovely doctors, your magic will be taken and put to good use."

Glaring at the man defiantly, Merlin, fighting through the pain from the serum spat out, "Go to hell." The man looked at him in disgust before walking out of the room, leaving Merlin with the 'doctors' as they had been called.

Over time, Merlin came to know the man as Uther Pendragon, a power-hungry demon who hated all those with magic and planned to take others magic for himself. The two 'doctors' he usually had were Dr. Aredian and Dr. Morgause. Over the next year and a bit, there wasn't a waking moment that he wasn't in pain.

Not long after he arrived, they found out just how powerful he was, before maturity, and quickly made plans for him to be moved to a more secure section of the Institute, where he was put through experiments worse than death, but although he screamed, he never gave them the satisfaction of giving up. He never begged, and even after hours of torture and experimenting, he would still have something to say, be it a snarky comment or simple observations specifically made to annoy them.

He learnt that one of the liquids being pumped into him daily was causing his powers to stay out of reach. After just over a year in the Institute, he got lucky. The 'doctor' that was keeping an eye on him had gone off quickly as all staff were needed for some reason or other. It just so happened that the man hadn't been keeping a close eye on Merlin and hadn't noticed that the drip with the magic blocker had run out.

Waiting 5 minutes for his magic to strengthen, Merlin managed to destroy his bindings and quickly removed the wires and tubes protruding from his body. Standing up for the first time in over a year almost had him collapsing, but thankfully his magic kept him upright. He looked around the room and saw a cabinet with his 'number' 0542 on it. He carefully walked over, still not used to being on his feet, and opened it up. Inside he found his clothes he had been taken in, clean now, and his few belongings he had had on his person when taken.

He quickly changed out of the gown, now covered in his blood, and changed into his fresh, clean clothes. Putting his wallet and ring in his pocket he made his way out, leaving his phone in case it was tracked.

He walked down plenty of white washed halls, passing many glass cells along the way. However, none he passed held anyone in them. A few times he came close to running into someone but managed to hide in time, or knock them out with a quick spell. Eventually he came to a stairwell leading upwards. Slowly he climbed the stairs, making sure no one was on them. He made it to the top and came out into a big modern entrance, no one in sight other than a security guard dozing behind a desk. He used his magic to make himself invisible, just in case someone should walk in or the security guard woke up, and proceeded to head out the doors.

The sun on his face was a shock, but a nice one. He walked over to where he could see some cars parked. Finding one with a decent sized boot, he opened the door, surprised it was unlocked but got in any way. He climbed into the boot and hid himself under a tarp that had been lying over some boxes.

After waiting a couple hours, he heard footsteps and then someone got into the driver's seat of the car. They drove off, and when Merlin finally allowed himself to relax as much as he could, he became aware of just how injured and tired he was, and was able to think about what had happened to him over the last year for the first time without being in agony.

A while later, the car finally stopped. Merlin waited until the footsteps had faded away before coming out from under the tarp. He climbed out of the car and looked around. He had no clue where he was so began to stumble on, his injury's having caught up to him, what with the adrenaline high having ran out a long time ago. After looking at a few maps he worked out that he was probably about an hours drive from Gwaine's, so called a cab to take him over.

He paid with a couple notes he found in his wallet then clumsily walked up to the door. Leaning heavily against the door frame he rang the bell. After the third ring he could hear some cussing on the other side of the door in a welcomed voice. A ticked off Gwaine opened the door, where he paused in shock at the sight of his best friend. "Merls-" He managed to choke out. "Hey Gwaine." With that Merlin collapsed, Gwaine managing to catch him before he fell to the ground.

"It's okay Merls," Gwaine soothed, Mother-Henning Merlin, "I've got you now." And with those words Merlin found himself sinking into a much welcomed darkness.

~0o0~

Present time

Uther Pendragon was watching the proceedings in the room ahead from behind a large glass wall. He watched as the numbers on the machines kept rising higher and higher, going way past anything seen before with this kind of experiment.

Last time 0542 had gone through it, the numbers had reached 100, a number thought impossible before. Now the machines showed past 1,000,000 and still rising. He watched as the man tried to struggle against his restraints, to no avail. After a time, the machines went blank. One of the 'doctors' went over to check it out and revealed that they couldn't go higher.

The 'doctors' were jotting down the last numbers recorded before the machines had gone blank, then most hurried out, probably to report their findings. Morgause and Aredian quickly unhooked the boy from the machines then started connecting more wires and tubes to him, along with an extra drip with the magic resistor.

Morgause filled a syringe with a yellow liquid and injected it into the young man's lower arm. He tried to resist the liquid but it almost immediately took effect, strengthening the paralysis that had worn off, preventing him from struggling anymore.

A cruel smile took up residence on Uther's face. He knew what was next, 0542 had escaped before they could do this particular experiment on him last time, but now they wouldn't waste a perfect chance at the experiment. Wires leading from a large machine in the corner of the room were connected to his chest, temple, arms and legs. A mask was put over the man's face and once everything was in place, the machine was turned on.

~0o0~

Arthur was standing on the porch to the Pendragon manor. He was wearing a black suit and red tie, and rubbing his shoes on the mat. A short woman with greying hair opened the door, stepping aside to allow Arthur to enter. Every Sunday he would have lunch with his father, and every time without fail, Uther would bring up the subject of Arthur joining the Pendragon company.

Every time, Arthur would dread the conversation, and turn his father down, but today was different. He was counting on that conversation to happen. He would ask to see the company buildings, including the Institute, and would be able to prove to himself that there was nothing cynical about the place.

He hung up his coat on the coat rack beside the door and followed one of the servants through to a grand dining room, with a large chandelier hanging over a large dining table. Uther sat at the head of the table, and a space had been laid out beside him for Arthur.

"Arthur." Uther greeted, to which Arthur replied "Father." With a nod of his head. He took the seat next to his father and for the next few minutes made polite conversation. Soon, a few waiters came in, some carrying plates of roast beef, potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and veg, whilst others carried bottles of wine, pots of gravy and other dressings.

Half way through their meal, Uther brought up the subject Arthur had been waiting for all evening (all week really but the last hours had him really anticipating it.) "So, Arthur" The elder began before pausing. "I know you are happy with your job in the police, but perhaps you should start thinking about other options. You won't always be young like you are now, so perhaps you should start taking an interest in Pendragon Enterprises, where you could work for quite some time."

Arthur finished his mouthful before responding, knowing full well that his response was important. He couldn't let his father know he wanted this after turning it down for years, but he also couldn't deny it. "Father, you know I love my job, helping people." He paused, watching his father's reaction, "However, I understand where you are coming from. It is my understanding that the institute helps those with magic, so they are not a threat to themselves or others. Perhaps I could look round it and see if I could indeed see myself working there?"

Uther agreed readily and it was decided that Arthur would get a tour of the Institute on the following Wednesday, in three days' time. Arthur was both looking forward to it, and dreading it. All he could do in the meantime was pray that Gwaine was wrong, and the Institute was indeed a place to help those with magic. All he could do was pray, and wait.

So, it's been a while, but I am continuing. For anyone reading my other story Of Scars and Tales, I am continuing it, it's just school is tiring. I'm going to try and update it at least twice a month, but I can't promise anything.

Poor Merlin, I'm really not being kind to him, am I? Heh. Oh well, what's a story without a little (read: a lot) of whump? I mean, Httyd? The freaking talking fishbone lost a leg! Humpty Dumpty fell off a wall! Harry Potter? Like half the school died! *cough* Dedric *cough*. Sooo…I feel completely justified in torturing Merlin. =P

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this, and see you next chapter! Please leave reviews, I love to see what you guys think, be it constructive criticism or just that you're liking the story!