Disclaimer: IDOM

Hey, guys! Thank you so incredibly much for your reviews. I'm sorry I wasn't able to reply to them, but they were so encouraging. Thank you all! Anyway, because of your clearly excited response to the last chapter, here's the next one. I can't promise that I'll be able to update regularly, but I'll do my best. For now, I hope you enjoy this one as much as you did the last.

Thank you again! Enjoy!

Merlin Merlin Merlin Merlin...

Gwaine couldn't get the man's name out of his head. Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw his pained face. He could feel the weight of him in his arms. The feel of the thick cloak that covered him.

Elyan came jogging down the hill in front of the physician. Panting, he said, "Gwaine! Where is he?"

"I..." He was still so focused on the subtle glint of Merlin's blood on his hands.

"Sir Gwaine," Gaius said flatly. "Where is he? I do not appreciate being awoken in the middle of the night for no reason."

"He's gone." The knight blinked several times to try to clear his head. "He just... disappeared."

Elyan grabbed his wrists, startling him. "Are you injured?"

"No, no, I'm fine. It's not mine," he explained. "It's Merlin's."

Merlin Merlin Merlin Merlin...

"Merlin?" Gaius echoed. "Who's Merlin?"

Gwaine looked at him. Really looked at him. Because for some reason, Merlin and Gaius just went together. For some reason, the one seemed like it belonged with the other. But by the look of genuine confusion in his eyes, he didn't know who he was. Neither did Elyan.

"It was... the man... who disappeared."

"Guys!" Arthur came running back towards them. Percival and Leon followed behind him. "What's going on? Is he okay?"

"Gwaine said he—"

"Merlin."

"—that Merlin disappeared," Gaius explained.

The king's eyes widened with surprise. "You know him?"

Gwaine took a deep breath, trying to stop the rush of protect protect protect in his head that followed the young man's name. Something was wrong. So very wrong. But he couldn't put his finger on it. "No, but... He's the one in the green cloak I told you about. He just..."

After a moment, when Gwaine didn't continue, Arthur sighed. "Our guy got away too. He disappeared right in front of our eyes. We're assuming magic. I'm going to double the guard in the Lower Town. I don't want to panic everyone. Leon, if you could inform the Watchmen. Gaius, I'm sorry for waking you. After the guard has been informed, I want you all to bed. I need you all rested if they return."

Gaius dipped his head before turning back towards the city. The rest of the knights followed behind him. All except Gwaine. He was staring at his hands again with a horrified look in his eyes. Like someone who'd just seen a family member die. He didn't notice the king walking up to him until Arthur's fingers wrapped around his wrist.

The younger man's voice was soft. "Gwaine?"

It took him a few seconds to look up, but when Gwaine met his eyes, the knight saw the true concern there.

"Are you okay?"

Gwaine closed his eyes and took a deep breath, struggling to regain himself. He scrubbed his hands on his pants before looking back up at his friend. "'Merlin' doesn't mean anything to you?"

"No," Arthur answered truthfully. "Should it?"

The knight didn't know. He didn't have an answer. "I'm fine. Just... tired." With that, Gwaine followed the rest of his friends up the hill and towards his bed, azure eyes following him the whole way.

The next few days flew by. Arthur had doubled the guard and sent more patrols out into the forest, which meant that Gwaine was up much earlier than he wanted to be and went to bed much later than he wanted to. But that was okay with him because it gave him more time to think about the maybe-stranger. He'd seen neither head nor tail of the young man since the incident, and some part of Gwaine was all too relieved. After the wound he'd received, he would need his rest.

But the knight couldn't explain why the thought of him hurt nearly pushed him into an anxiety attack or explain the righteous fury that blazed through him.

He kept dreaming of red neckerchiefs and sunshine, laughter and mead, horseback riding and adventure. When he woke up, he felt even more tired than before. He didn't tell anyone. He didn't want his friends to worry. Even though he was probably going crazy.

And things only got worse when one of the early morning patrols found someone creeping around the Walls. And because Camelot's guards are so great... They got away.

Gwaine was furious. He wasn't even angry at the guards, who'd let them get away. He wasn't angry with Arthur, who'd just let the guards off and told them to keep looking. He wasn't even angry at the potential criminal stalking the Walls.

No, he was more angry with himself. And, well... Everyone that insisted that 'Merlin' meant nothing to them. Gwaine thought that if he hadn't been the one to stay with him that night, he wouldn't have thought twice about him. 'Merlin' wouldn't mean anything to him either.

Regardless, he did.

And Gwaine had to figure out what to do.

His fingers balled into a fist as he walked to Arthur's chambers. The king had called a meeting of the Round Table in regards to everything that's been happening. In normal circumstances, he would be relieved to address something like this. This time, though, his attention was elsewhere, and he really didn't want any of them thinking he was losing his mind. He tried his best to push down the thoughts he had of the young man haunting his every waking hour.

He knocked gently before entering and found everyone was there except for Leon and Elyan. Gwen informed him that they were finishing a patrol and would be there shortly. The knight had simply nodded. He knew Gwen had been safely in her house when everything had occurred, but that hadn't stopped him from asking if she knew anything of the strange boy. She hadn't. It wasn't a surprise to the knight, but it just added to the wrongness he felt.

Dropping himself into one of the chairs at the table, he folded his hands behind his head. The king stood by the window, Percival by his side as they spoke of the recent news of the intruder on the Wall. Gwen sat quietly in her seat, but she looked like she was itching to get up and clean something. The dark haired knight smiled softly. Even though she was technically a Lady now that Elyan was a knight, she would never lose her humility or her want to be of use. In the background, Arthur's servant George stoked the fire.

He was a strange man, but he was kind and polite. George made sure the king was well taken care of. Spoiled him, if Gwaine was honest. Everything was always cleaned within an inch of its life and there was never anything out of its place.

"Prat."

Gwaine slammed his eyes shut at the sudden voice in his head. It wasn't his. It wasn't the other knights. It was Merlin's. Sounding snarky and disrespectful, but with an undercurrent of affection. He put his hand to his forehead, taking a deep breath.

"And if it wasn't for that fire, we'd all be pushing up daisies."

"Oh, god, are those Arthur's socks?"

"Merlin, clean up this lot."

"Yes, Sir Dollophead."

"Merlin! It's almost good to see you!"

"Hey! Bog-man!"

"My clothes need laundering, my sword needs sharpening, my bedclothes need changed. My stables need mucked out, and someone needs to polish these boots."

Servant.

Gwaine gasped at the sudden rush of memories. That's what they were! They weren't visions or hallucinations! Memories! Then he startled with the realization that the young man had been a servant. Finally! Some piece of solid information!

But he'd heard Arthur's voice in his memories. And his own. So why didn't they remember? Had Arthur just lied to him? But that would also mean that he was lying to himself? Which didn't make sense. He shook his head in effort to clear it. One thing at a time.

Merlin Merlin Merlin Merlin...

Neckerchief. Dimples. His eyes squinted when he laughed.

"Gwaine?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin when Guinevere set her hand lightly on his arm. She was looking at him with intense concern in her brown eyes. He felt Arthur's eyes on his back.

Gwaine ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "I'm fine. Just a headache."

"Perhaps you should see Gaius?" Arthur suggested. The king set his hand on the back of his chair, leaning over it.

Heart thudding in his chest, the knight nodded fervently, anxious to get out of the now cramped quarters. He looked up at George again and instantly knew Merlin should have been there. He was Arthur's servant. Not George.

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

He cast one last look around the too-perfect room, imagining pillows strewn about the floor and the bedclothes hanging off one edge. Arthur's armor would be thrown haphazardly on the table, but somehow, everything was perfect.

Gwaine closed his eyes and left.