A/N: Lol GuestM, spoke too soon... XD This was inspired by some of lemissingmask's sketches and "Shrapnel" made for a perfect setup for it.

Chapter 1

Lancelot sat in a chair in Gaius's chambers as the court physician checked over his healing wounds from the sword shrapnel he'd taken two weeks ago. The scars down his back, side, and left arm were pink and raised from the hot iron cauterizing the places they'd penetrated, but Lancelot had escaped the complication of infection.

"Everything looks good," Gaius commented as he finished his examination. "You can resume full duties."

Lancelot nodded mutely and slipped his shirt back on. He was glad of the prognosis, and yet he still felt a bit…off. He couldn't put his finger on it, and so he didn't mention it to Gaius. He didn't feel ill or weak or in pain. Just an itch under his skin he didn't have words to describe.

So he dismissed it and headed out to join his fellow knights in training. Leon waved at him and beckoned him over to run through some paces together. Leon was careful with Lancelot, not pushing him to jump back in full force without warming up first. And Lancelot needed to start slow, moving tentatively as he adjusted to the pull of the scars against his muscles.

He and Leon exchanged a few parries, and Lancelot was able to hold his own. Fortunately, his sword arm hadn't taken any shrapnel and so his grip and swing weren't adversely affected, but his muscles were definitely a little less flexible. Lancelot hoped it was something that could be loosened up with exercise.

He wasn't overly exerting himself, but he was getting hot and it was making him dizzy and uncomfortable. He dropped his sword and took a step back from Leon. "I need a break," he said.

Leon nodded and went to watch Gwaine and Percival's sparring.

Lancelot lumbered over to the edge of the field and let his sword drop to the ground. He bent down to pick up a water skin and chugged the cool liquid down. He wiped the back of his sleeve across his brow, though he wasn't sweating.

"You all right?" Elyan asked, also taking a breather.

"Yeah," Lancelot replied a tad breathlessly. "It's just warm out."

He slumped back against the archery board since no one was using it and watched his friends continue to train as he sipped at his water. He was still overly hot and tugged uncomfortably at his shirt. Fortunately, training finished shortly and they all were released.

Lancelot returned to his chambers and took his shirt off. He ran his fingers over the rough scars. He thought they felt hot, but Gaius had just checked them and it was a bit late for any kind of infection to set in. He opened the window and stood shirtless in the high breeze that wafted in until he felt a little cooler, then he put his shirt back on and headed down to the knights' common room for supper.

But he found himself only nibbling at his meal, having trouble focusing on it and the chatter around him. He felt odd, sounds and vision blurring slightly.

"-celot!"

He snapped back into awareness. "Hm?"

Leon was looking at him in concern. "I said your name three times. Are you okay?"

He set his fork down, meal barely touched. "I think I need to retire for the night," he said and started to stand when a hot tingle zinged through him, and the veins in his hand lit up with blazing gold. Lancelot froze and stared in incomprehension as those nearby gasped and surged from their seats with a clamor.

"What is that?" Gwaine broke the suspended air.

Lancelot turned his hand over. His palm was clear, but the back of his hand was glowing.

"It's on your neck and face too," Elyan said worriedly.

Lancelot reached for a silver platter on the table, dumping the remainder of its contents, and lifted the metal to look at his reflection. His heart jolted at the smudged golden branches forking up the side of his face and across his left eye.

"We should get you to Gaius," Leon said, tentatively reaching out but refraining from touching Lancelot at the last moment.

Lancelot turned and walked out of the hall, past other knights backing away from him in fright. His friends all followed him, though.

He kept staring at his hand as he made his way to the physician's chambers, unnerved by the light still radiating up through his skin. It was warm but didn't hurt.

"Gaius!" Elyan called as he burst into the room first. "We need you!"

Gaius and Merlin looked up from their own supper as Lancelot entered and held up his hand. Not that he needed to, since his face was blazing as well. Both their eyes widened and they jumped to their feet.

"What happened?" Merlin exclaimed.

"I don't know," Lancelot answered. "This just…happened."

"Out of nowhere," Gwaine confirmed.

Gaius took hold of Lancelot's hand to examine it, a deep furrow in his brow. But in the next moment, the light faded and disappeared. Lancelot reached his other hand up to touch his face, though he couldn't really tell if that had vanished as well, but it didn't feel hot to the touch.

Gaius frowned and released Lancelot's hand. "What are you feeling?"

"Nothing. Well, I was too warm before, but now I feel normal." Lancelot's chest tightened. "Gaius, what is this?"

"I don't know," the old physician replied honestly.

"Um," Merlin spoke up. "That's kind of what the magical sword looked like before it exploded."

"What are you saying?" Percival asked. "That it poisoned Lancelot?"

The door swung open behind them and Arthur and Gwen hurried inside. A knight from the common room must have rushed to tell the prince what happened.

"What's going on?" Arthur asked urgently, quirking a confused brow at Lancelot, who was no longer glowing with magic as was likely reported.

"An unexpected development," Gaius answered. "I suspect Lancelot absorbed some of the magic from the sword shrapnel that hit him."

Lancelot's stomach dropped out from under him. "How bad is this?"

"I have no idea. I've never seen anything like it."

"Can you find a way to fix it?" Arthur asked tensely.

"I'll have to consult some magic books…" Gaius replied.

Arthur looked unsettled but nodded his consent.

The others were casting furtive looks at Lancelot, obviously unnerved as well. Lancelot didn't know how he felt about it. He wasn't against magic. Merlin had magic. But Lancelot wasn't a sorcerer and he didn't know what to do with this. Not to mention this was Camelot, where magic was outlawed, and that little display at dinner meant his wouldn't be a secret like Merlin's was.

And that complicated things quite a bit more.

But with no one having any idea on how to handle this new situation, Lancelot had no choice but to try to go about his business as usual. Unfortunately, word of his incident had spread quickly through the castle and he received wary looks from servants and knights of the nobility everywhere he went. He felt a rush of dread should Uther hear of it, though Gwen had told him the king was so lost in his grief that he was barely aware of anything, which was a relief.

His friends at least were more concerned about him than afraid. The glowing veins flared up a few more times at random, but after a few minutes faded again and nothing else happened.

"You're a human torch," Gwaine joked during once such instance. "Could be useful on night patrols."

Lancelot was not amused.

He tried not to fret over this development, since nothing horrible was actually coming of it, but he was still unsettled by this thing simmering inside him. Like a slumbering beast that awoke of its own accord. It wasn't like Merlin's magic, that was a part of him; this magic was a separate entity from Lancelot, an invader inside his body.

He needed to get away from the whispers and stares and was happy when it came time for his cohort to patrol. But of course it couldn't just be a peaceful day's outing. They just had to run into some bandits.

Gwaine let out an energized cry as he charged head first into the fight. The others spread out, each taking on an opponent. Lancelot's scars twinged slightly as he fought with full force, but while the stretching was uncomfortable, they didn't hinder his ability to move fluidly. His opponent had the advantage of girth, though, making his swing wider and stronger. Lancelot threw his blade up to block and felt the impact vibrate through his bones. Then something else thrummed deep inside him in response.

He gasped as he felt the magic surge up again, setting his veins alight. The bandit reeled back in surprise and fear. Lancelot tried to ignore the flare-up and continue the fight, but something was different this time. The magic was pulsing through his blood, and in the next instant, it lashed out like a strike of lightning, cutting across the bandit's chest with a snap and sizzle. The man screamed and fell to the ground, torso smoking from blackened clothes and flesh.

The rest of the fighting stalled at that, and the other bandits turned to flee in the face of Lancelot's frightening visage. The other knights gaped in shock. Lancelot stared in horror at the man twitching on the ground, half his body covered in terrible burns. He wouldn't survive them.

"Well," Gwaine broke the silence. "That's new."

Lancelot backed away from his friends, worried another burst of magic would harm them too. The veins in his hands glowed like liquid sun. "I- I didn't mean to…"

Percival took a step toward him and Lancelot recoiled.

"Don't," he warned. "I don't want to hurt you."

No one moved at that, all of them standing tensely and not knowing what to do. But then after another minute, the light faded and Lancelot felt the magic go dormant again.

"You okay now?" Elyan asked in trepidation.

Lancelot swallowed hard. No, he was not okay.

Leon walked over to the bandit and grimly delivered a quick, merciful death. "We need to speak with Gaius," he said.

They started back toward Camelot, Lancelot keeping his distance from his friends just in case. They went straight to Gaius's chambers while Leon went to get Arthur so he could hear a report of what happened as well.

Lancelot took a seat on the patient cot and stared at his hands in his lap. They were normal now, but he couldn't predict when that fire would ignite inside him. And while he had killed men before in battle, what he'd done to that bandit in the woods was…brutal. Sickening.

Leon arrived with Arthur and Merlin and relayed the incident to them as well as Gaius.

Merlin came over to sit next to Lancelot. "Are you okay?"

Lancelot shrugged. "The magic's not active right now."

Merlin frowned and added quietly, "That's not what I meant."

Arthur pressed his mouth into a thin line. "Gaius, have you found a way to reverse this?"

"Not yet," he replied regretfully. "The sword that Lancelot absorbed the magic from was one of a kind, and there's no record of something like this happening before."

Everyone shared discomfited looks at that. They all knew magic was illegal.

Lancelot lifted his head and cleared his throat hesitantly. "Where do we go from here, then?"

Another round of silent looks were exchanged.

No one had an answer.