The Poisoned Wine
Maria raised an eyebrow as an outfit covered in a plastic sleeve was half tossed on top of Merlin's desk, which she was half sitting on as she spoke with her brother about her work in the museum, the two of them looking up at Arthur as he smirked down at them, "What's this?" Merlin eyed the clothing.
"Your next task," the man stated, "I need it cleaned for the dinner tonight."
"The negotiations with that Benjamin bloke went well then?" Maria moved to pull the plastic off the outfit, wanting to see exactly what it was.
"His name, to you, is Mr…."
"Don't care," Maria waved him off, "It's not like we'll ever be talking to him or addressing him," she reasoned, which just made Arthur roll his eyes.
"As a matter of fact, you just might," he told them, "You two are to attend the dinner also."
"What, really?" Merlin looked up at that.
"Company policy," Arthur shrugged, "Morgan is bringing Gwen, personal assistants are required to attend."
"Why?" Maria shook her head, "It's not like we had anything to do with…what is that god awful stench?" she suddenly changed topics, her nose wrinkling as a terrible odor reached her, causing her to put her hand over her mouth to try and ward it off.
"Is that…is that the clothing?" Merlin himself grimaced, giving the outfit Arthur had dropped on his desk a wary sniff, recoiling as it was indeed the outfit in question that was giving off the foul smell, "When was the last time this was cleaned!?"
"Last year?" Arthur guessed, "Morgan's promotion if I recall right."
That was something to be said for him and Morgan, they hadn't just been GIVEN the positions they had in the company, his father wasn't so stupid as to give them jobs they might be rubbish in and run the company into the ground because of. No, he made sure the two of them had a solid background in their fields and in the company in order to DO the job instead of have the job. They had worked their way up to where they were, likely a little easier than others, his father HAD had them in mind for the positions for ages now, but they did have to learn a lot about it before they could claim it.
"What, did it end in a food fight?" Maria got off the desk and stepped a few paces away.
"Knowing Morgan, it just might have," he joked. She had a terrible habit of throwing her food at him when he irritated her, usually something small, like peas or a bit of bread, sometimes mashed potatoes or even ice cream when she was really angry, "Now," he shook his head, getting back to the point, "See to it that it's clean and ready to go for tonight and do try to find something respectable to wear," he eyed them, "You're going to be representing Pendragon Security, you need to look professional as ever."
Maria opened her mouth to comment on that, but Merlin quickly covered it with his hand, "Yes, sir," he offered Arthur a smile, the man seeming a little wary of what Maria had been about to say, but turning to head off.
"What was that for?" Maria pulled his hand down as Arthur left the room.
"Knowing you, Mia," Merlin smirked, mimicking Arthur, "You were about to make some sort of crude comment about what we need to wear."
"I don't HAVE anything that formal," she rolled her eyes as Merlin picked up the covered outfit and started to head for the door, following him, "I was going to ask…"
"I can just imagine what you were going to ask," he cut in, "And, as your brother, I do NOT need to hear it."
"Oh?" she challenged, crossing her arms after she hit the button for the lift, "And what was I about to say, brother mine?"
He scoffed, "Probably something about how, if you don't have anything formal, if you shouldn't turn up at all."
"And how is THAT something you don't need to hear?"
"Because Arthur would have said you HAVE to show up, and you'd throw something out about showing up in nothing then since you had nothing formal. And, as funny as Arthur's reaction would have been, I don't need that in my head thanks."
Maria huffed, dropping her arms as they got in the lift, "Why must you know me so well?"
"I'm your brother, I'm supposed to know you too well and stop you getting in trouble."
She scoffed this time at that, "If anything, I was always the one getting YOU out of trouble."
"It's not my fault my…dabbling…isn't as aggressive as yours," he muttered under his breath, referring to his hacking.
"I know," she patted his arm in playful sympathy, "You would rather build walls, I'd rather break them."
And it had caused a lot of danger to them when they were just starting out. Merlin had always been timid and second guessing himself, hesitating too long and nearly getting caught, leaving paths open that led back to him that she'd had to go in and reverse and close and keep him safe. Alternatively though, her own protections on her computer were severely lacking, she really did focus more on the getting in than keeping others from getting into her work. Merlin had always handled that too, kept her work safe the way she kept him safe. They were a team, an excellent one if they had yet to really get caught.
"We really should work on that," Merlin mused, "We've always teamed up on things, but if something happened where it was one of us, we should be better at what the other can do."
Maria nodded, it did make sense, but she also doubted they'd actually DO it. They'd both said the same thing over the years and had yet to really try anything but improve their own areas. She looked up as the doors opened on the lower level, it was technically their lunch break and she really needed to stretch her legs and thought going with Merlin would be something to do, give them more freedom to talk outside the building. There was a small cleaners just around the corner, down the road, that they could stop by, a quaint little café on the way back for food.
"Why do I always get landed with the donkey work," Merlin sighed as they stepped out, gesturing at the lump of cloth in his arms.
"We're the assistants," she muttered, "We have to assist."
"This isn't assisting, this is DOING."
Maria paused when a young girl that was walking before them tripped on her heels, shoes she was clearly not used to wearing, and dropped all her files in her arms onto the ground, hurrying over to the girl's side to help her collect her papers again.
"THAT is assisting," Merlin called.
Maria waved him off, getting back to the girl, "You alright?" she asked.
"Yes, sorry," the girl winced, brushing her long brown hair over her shoulder as it fell before her, "Just…not used to this," she sighed, glancing up revealing blue eyes, "Heels, hells if you ask me."
"Are you new?" Maria eyed her, not recognizing her, not that she really would. She didn't know EVERYONE in the company yet, but she had hacked in to look up the employee records so she would know some key people or at least be able to recognize new faces.
"No, not technically," the girl smiled at her, "I'm Kara," she offered, taking the last file Maria handed to her, "I work for Bayard Corp."
"Oh," Maria nodded, standing, helping the girl up as well, "You're here for the negotiations."
It wasn't technically negotiations, Bayard Corp supplied Pendragon Security with a lot of the metals they used in their prototypes and weapons and safe rooms, it was more a renegotiation now that the contract had run its course, a reaffirming of it with some tweaks than an entirely new one.
"Yes," Kara smiled timidly, "I'm just an assistant," she offered, "An assistant's assistant really."
"We're assistants too," Merlin joined them, "I'm Merlin, and this is my sister, Maria."
"Who do you assist, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Arthur," they stated.
Her eyes widened, "You must be excellent at your work!" she exclaimed, "Arthur's rather famous for firing his assistants."
"I think we're more entertaining than efficient," Maria shrugged.
"Yeah," Merlin gave her a look, his tone dripping with sarcasm, "THAT's why he keeps us around," he shook his head at that, his sister was a little oblivious about Arthur wasn't she? Even HE could tell the man might fancy his sister just a little.
"Well, thank you for your help," Kara smiled at them, lifting the massive pile of papers once, "It was nice to meet you."
Maria sighed and turned back to her brother, "Come on," she nudged him, "We need to get Arthur's clothing cleaned and get something to eat. I'm starving."
~8~
"I feel ridiculous," Maria muttered to Merlin as she stood beside him, Gwen on his other side, observing Mr. Pendragon giving a speech about the long standing contract and partnership that Pendragon Security had with Bayard Corp, how they wouldn't be where they were today without the support and supplies, etc.
"You look fine," Merlin whispered back, though he too kept shifting in his suit. It was all black, even with a black shirt underneath, and a bright blue tie that Gwen had insisted he wear for his eyes.
Maria was entirely certain it wasn't just for his eyes judging on how another set of eyes hadn't been taken off her brother since they entered. Morgan really was a quite obvious in how she fancied Merlin, but her brother seemed oblivious to the woman's appreciation…though it hadn't stopped him from appreciating Morgan right back.
"I'm in a dress," Maria huffed, she hated dresses, she really did, and now she was in a black cocktail dress, in high heeled shoes, with no sleeves that was making her shiver because it was chilly in that room.
"And you look lovely, now hush," Merlin called back, nudging her slightly as she pouted and crossed her arms…only to drop them when Merlin nudged her again.
"You know who else looks lovely?" Gwen glanced at Merlin, a teasing note in her voice as she saw his attention directed towards the main table where Arthur and Morgan were, a young woman with brown hair standing just behind Benjamin, in between the man and Morgan, "Her."
"She is," Merlin nodded absently, his gaze on Morgan more than Kara, though Gwen seemed to think it was the reverse.
"Not sure about that shade of red though…" she remarked, eyeing Kara in a very pale red suit dress that looked out of place on her, she was already so pale it was washing out.
"What do you mean?" Merlin glanced at Gwen with a frown, "She's wearing blue. Dark blue."
Gwen's eyes widened as she realized Merlin really WAS looking at Morgan as she'd first suspected and could barely keep the grin off her face as she replied, "Right," she cleared her throat, "Sorry, meant to say blue."
Merlin nodded and looked back at Morgan, letting out a little sigh, "She'd look wonderful in any color though."
"I'm sure she would," Gwen pursed her lips to keep from smiling. Merlin fancied Morgan too! Oh this was Christmas! She knew her 'boss' fancied Merlin, she could hardly concentrate when the man was in the room or nearby, but she hadn't been fully sure about Merlin till just now. He gave off the rather sweet, awkward boy vibe that could have just meant he was like that around all women, the way he was around Morgan, but it seemed she was wrong about that.
"I bet you wish she 'didn't have anything formal' either," Maria muttered, nudging her brother playfully.
Merlin actually started nodding his head before her words registered, the intent and innuendo behind them hitting him, "Mia!" he nearly shouted at her, his eyes wide, his cheeks flushing at the implication that, if Morgan had nothing formal to wear she wouldn't be wearing anything.
"You know me, and I know you," she held up her hands in surrender, getting him back for cutting off her fun teasing Arthur before.
"It's nearly done," Gwen whispered to them, nodding at Benjamin as he stood to give his final speech too.
"Thank god," Maria sighed, only to tense when she felt someone grab her arm and turn her and Merlin as well, "What…Kara?" she frowned as the girl somehow managed to make her way towards them as the crowd had clapped for Mr. Pendragon's speech.
"I need to speak to you," Kara looked at them frantically, before pulling them back, through the crowd to the very back of the room where no one would see or overhear them.
"What is it?" Merlin asked, concerned, seeing she looked truly frightened.
"I'm sorry," she muttered, "I just…I didn't know who else to tell. But when my boss gave Arthur the wine for the toasting, I just knew…"
"Knew what?" Maria frowned.
Kara looked around before leaning in to speak even more quietly, "Just before we left for the meetings, I was working late, getting his evening coffee and I didn't think anything of just walking into his office because it was just him there with no meetings or guests and…"
"Kara," Maria cut in, "The point, what about the wine?"
"He was injecting something into the top of the bottle," Kara blurted, "I think it was poison."
The siblings looked at each other in alarm, there really was no other reason to inject anything into a sealed bottle unless it was meant to be a drug or poison! They turned and quickly ran towards the tables, hearing the speeches finishing up.
"Stop!" Merlin shouted, shoving one of the investors out of the way to rush towards the main table.
"The wine's poisoned!" Maria added as Merlin grabbed Arthur's cup away from him, Arthur being the closest at the moment.
"What?!" Mr. Pendragon nearly roared.
"Merlin what are you doing?" Arthur glared at him.
"The bottle was poisoned by Bayard Corp," Maria repeated, looking accusingly at the head of the company.
"How dare you!" the man raged, offended deeply by the accusation.
Mr. Pendragon himself seemed equally outraged, "What proof do you have in these baseless accusations!?"
"Father please," Arthur stepped around the table, cautious, "Merlin, Maria, have you gotten to the wine before the rest of us? Bit too strong for you lightweights?"
Maria just glared at him for his attempt at lightening the tension by accusing them of being drunk, "If we had we'd be dead because it's been tampered with!"
"Unless you want to be fired," Mr. Pendragon's voice grew low and dangerous, "You'll tell me why you think it's poisoned, now!"
"He was seen lacing it," Merlin answered, turning to face the head of Camelot.
"By whom?"
"We can't say," Maria defended Kara, not about to let the girl be fired for telling the truth.
"This is ridiculous," the head of Bayard Corp rolled his eyes, "I would never…"
Mr. Pendragon held up his hand, "Drink it," he nodded to Merlin.
"What?" Merlin gaped.
"But if it is poisoned, he'll die!" Morgan leapt to her feet, not knowing what she should have said up to that point, whether to defend Merlin or Arthur or what was going on, but this…she wouldn't stand for this, she wouldn't risk this.
"Then we'll know he was telling the truth," Mr. Pendragon remarked, "And we have ample access to antidotes and the hospitals can surely identify the poison and…"
"Father you would have a massive lawsuit on your hands," Arthur reminded him, appealing to his logical side, "There's no way to know what poison it is or how quickly it could spread," they did deal with poisons, Pendragon Security, they worked with chemicals and trying to create antidotes to them, so he knew from the sheer mechanics of it that it could take too long to work out or administer from when a person ingested it.
"It's NOT poison!" Benjamin insisted, rounding on Merlin, "Drink it," he ordered, seeming so sure that it wasn't, that Merlin would be fine, that there were whispers around the room that perhaps the two had been wrong, that it wasn't poison.
"Sir," Gus called, stepping forward, "Please, they…they've had too much to drink," he tried going with Arthur's approach, despite the fact that it earned him a glare from both his relatives, "It's…it's an office prank?"
"I am NOT laughing," Mr. Pendragon glared, "Drink it."
"Oh for…" Arthur rolled his eyes, "I'LL drink it then."
"No, no, you can't…" Merlin tried to argue, when the glass was snatched out of his hand.
He spun around just in time to see Maria take a large gulp of the glass, "There," she swallowed, "I drank it."
Merlin glared at her, knowing exactly why she'd done it and grabbed it from her, swallowing the last portion of it, "So did I."
"Merlin!" she snapped at him, SHE was supposed to drink it, not him too! If one of them was going to succumb to the poison it had best be her, she was not going to let someone hurt her brother…but he just went and drank it anyway.
He was SO frustrating sometimes!
"And…and we're fine," Merlin frowned, almost seeming disappointed they weren't poisoned as he turned to face Mr. Pendragon's wrath for ruining the evening and the dinner.
"Oh…" Maria groaned, suddenly looking green and ill, "I don't think we are…" before she clutched at her throat, sinking to her knees just as a burning feeling raced through him as well, starting in his gut and working up to his throat, driving him to his knees as well.
"It IS poison!" was the last thing either sibling heard before their worlds went black.
~8~
Merlin winced as he slowly came to, feeling sluggish and weak, like the world around him was blurry and spinning. He groaned as he tried to move, his entire body aching.
"Me too," he heard Maria's weakened voice just next to him.
He looked over to see his sister lying in a hospital bed, just like he was, both of them dressed in hospital dresses and looking very much like death had warmed over. There were bags under his sister's eyes that he knew were under his as well, she was pale, sweating, and there was a rash spreading across her arm, her lips were dry and cracked and her cheeks flushed. He knew he looked no better.
He managed to reach up, feeing something tickling his nose to feel a tube underneath it, feeding him oxygen.
"You were struggling to breathe when they brought you in," Gus's voice echoed and they looked over to see their uncle standing at the foot of Maria's bed, reading her chart, "As a relative, I'm the only one allowed to be in the room with you," he sighed, setting it down.
"What…happened?" Maria panted, trying to sit up but giving up when it became too much work.
"You were both poisoned," Gus frowned at them, "You were right, the wine was laced with an extremely rare and deadly poison, which you ingested. All employees of Bayard Corp have been taken into custody for questioning."
"Not Kara," Maria frowned, "Make sure...she's ok."
"Who?" Gus eyed her, his gaze flickering to the monitor beside her, her temperature hadn't changed.
"She told us," Merlin wheezed, "About the poison. Saw it...being added."
Gus shook his head, "There isn't anyone that works for Bayard Corp called Kara," he told them, "None that attended the negotiations."
"But...she was there," Maria insisted.
"I saw the guest list myself," Gus replied, "There is no Kara."
"But if she's not...working for Bayard..."
"Who is she?" Merlin frowned.
Gus was silent at that, thinking, a deep frown on his face, "She can't be," he mused, "She wouldn't dare..."
"What?"
"Do you know her uncle?" Maria eyed him.
"Kara..." he sighed, "it's not her real name. If she is who I think she is...it was her mother's."
"And who...do you think she is?" Merlin asked.
"A very skilled hacker," he looked as the two of them, "I don't doubt it wasn't Benjamin that poisoned the drink, but her."
"Could she do that?"
"She's also very skilled in bio-chemistry," Gus warned, "She very much could. It would explain..." he cut off.
"What?" Maria shook her head, "Explain what?"
"Why you both have developed a rash already," Gus looked at their arms, at there red rash spreading across it, "It's a sign the poison is advancing."
"Cure?" Merlin hissed as he gasped, feeling a pain throb into his stomach.
"Arthur, Morgan, and Gwen have gone to the research labs to see if Pendragon Security has any antidotes for this one," he grew grim, "But at the moment…no."
"And if 'Kara' can hack...she might erase records of it."
"What was it?" Maria frowned, not even sure what sort of poison it was.
"A poison created from the Mortaeus flower," he stepped closer to them, "They're very hard to find and the only cure comes from the Mortaeus leaf. I haven't heard of any growing near here in…many years."
"So," Merlin swallowed hard, "If no one finds the leaf or an antidote…"
"We die a slow and painful death?" Maria guessed.
"I'm…I'm afraid so," Gus swallowed hard.
The siblings fell silent, "How…how long?" Merlin hesitated to ask.
Gus stepped closer, examining the IVs and drips beside Merlin's bed, "It would have killed you in four or five days, but the rash...the poison's been modified, it's advancing faster than it should. Those rashes shouldn't have appeared till the final stages. The doctors here have you both hooked up to medications that ought to slow the symptoms and progress of the poison," he glanced between his niece and nephew, "But it won't stop it," he let out a deep breath, not wanting to tell them, but knowing they deserved to know, "Two days at most."
Merlin and Maria fell silent at that, they had never heard their uncle sound so hopeless, that…was not a good sign.
~8~
Arthur was angrily pacing as Morgan and Gwen quickly worked away at the computers of the research lab of Camelot, searching the records for anything that had to do with the Mortaeus flower that the doctors had identified as the poison Merlin and Maria had drunk.
"Anything?"
"Not since you asked us 40 seconds ago," Morgan huffed, getting irritated by Arthur's constant questioning. She was terrified for Merlin, just like he clearly was for Maria, but she wasn't snapping at him or pacing or being unhelpful.
"There's…there's nothing," Gwen breathed as their search finished moments later, "We have no records of the Mortaeus flower or poisons created from it."
"But that should be impossible," Arthur strode over, "We have records of poisons used in the middle ages and we don't have any about a flower?"
"If we did…it's not here anymore," Morgan said cryptically.
Arthur frowned at that, his jaw tensing at the implication that whoever had poisoned his assistants had hacked into their systems and deleted their information about the poison so they couldn't be saved, "Brilliant," he grunted, pushing away from the computer and spinning around, a hand going through his hair.
"Um, Morgan?" Gwen called, her voice tight, "I didn't do this…"
Arthur turned, looking over to see Gwen's computer had gone to a black screen. He stepped closer just as white writing began to move across the screen.
'If you want the cure, Arthur Pendragon, come to Baldor Warehouse alone.'
Over and over those words were written…before a countdown appeared instead, and they knew that it wasn't for how long the cure would be there, but for how long Merlin and Maria had before the poison took them.
"Arthur," Morgan turned to him, already knowing where his mind would go.
"Don't tell me I shouldn't," he spoke, his voice deadly low, knowing that whoever sent that message was toying with them, holding the cure but knowing he was a target. Maybe that was what this whole thing was about, whoever really poisoned the wine had wanted to take HIM out and when his assistants intervened, this was their backup. Kill him as he tried to save them, poetic.
"I wasn't going to," Morgan narrowed her eyes, "I was going to say be incredibly careful."
"Mr. Pendragon isn't going to like this," Gwen shifted in discomfort, just imaging how badly the man was going to explode if he found out his son had gone off on what was undoubtedly a 'fool's mission' in his eyes.
"I don't care," Morgan shook her head, "Sometimes you need to do what's RIGHT and damn the consequences."
"You really think I should go?" Arthur looked at her.
"You really think anyone would feel safe buying from Camelot if we just let two people die instead of try to save them? Your father's already crippling the name of Camelot with his infamous tact," she rolled her eyes, "This is your chance to prove you can run the company better."
Arthur considered that point, his father had a way of driving people off, of not making them feel entirely safe, but HE tried his best to do that, to keep people feeling like they could trust in Camelot again. There was a time, just before he was born, that his father refused to speak of and he knew it had been a dark time in the Company's history, something that drove quite a few people away from them and to competitors.
Now was his chance to not only restore faith in Camelot but save two lives in the process.
~8~
Arthur was quite sure that he had broken a speeding law or two on his way to get to the warehouse not just before the poison struck down two fr…assistants, but before his father caught wind of it and sent out guards to force him back. The message had said to come alone and even though he knew it was likely a trap, it always seemed to be when things like that came up, he needed to go, Merlin and Maria's lives were at stake.
He quickly skid to a stop outside the rather large abandoned warehouse and quickly got out, only just remembering to lock the car as he ran towards the building. He slowed only when he reached the door, remembering all his training in stealth and knowing it would be better to assess his surroundings than to just rush in there. Too much was at stake for him to muck this up now.
He peered in cautiously through a broken window next to the door but, seeing no one, turned to push it open, sneaking into the main floor.
The Baldor Warehouse used to be a manufacturing plant, full of mechanical belts and monitors to keep track of orders and progress. It was nearly empty now, just a large bare building, but the monitors were still fixed into the walls…so when one suddenly lit up, he jumped back admittedly startled.
'Welcome, Arthur Pendragon.'
He glared at it, "I've come and I've come alone, now where is the cure?"
'Patience.'
"Tell me now or I'll…"
'What?' it challenged, his jaw clenching as he knew he couldn't really threaten anything, 'Downstairs.'
He raised an eyebrow as a small arrow popped up on the screen, pointing to the right. He sighed but turned and followed it, walking till he reached a set of stairs and headed down them. He kept walking till he reached the second to last floor, a sound of a lock unhatching sounding and the door beside him started to open on its own.
Hackers, he thought, he was dealing with a hacker that had complete control of the building, but it was of little matter now. They had the cure and he needed to get to it.
He looked around the hallway the door opened into, glancing up and down it, till the light above him went off…and began to light up the others to his right. He took that as a signal to head in that direction and followed the lights, down the hall, around a corner, to another door. He peered through the window on it before it unlocked and pulled it open. It was a large room, a very large empty room.
"Well?" he shouted, "Where is it?"
He nearly gaped when a light sparked on at the other end of the room, revealing a vile resting on a metal barrel.
He glanced around, cautious, not sure what to make of this. There was nothing else in the room, just him and the barrel with the cure on it. He cautiously made his way towards it, on edge and ready for any trap that might spring at him…but nothing happened. He reached the barrel without any difficulty and picked up the vial.
"How can I know this is the cure?" he called, looking at a monitor set just behind it in the wall.
It flickered on, revealing a woman with brown hair and blue eyes, "You'll just have to trust me."
"You!" his eyes widened, recognizing her as the girl that had pulled Merlin and Maria away during Bayard Corp's speech.
And he noticed only because it was improper for them to just run off and not listen to the speech.
It had nothing at all to do with him having been unable to look away from Maria in her lovely dress. Not a thing like that. No. He had a girlfriend, thank you very much, who just…couldn't happen to attend the dinner, her father was ill and she was tending to him and…well, it was unbefitting Maria to just turn her back on a speech to gossip with her friends…even if the sight of her leaving was a rather…nice view…
He shook his head, glaring at the woman on the monitor, "You were the one that told them it was poisoned!"
The woman smirked and clapped, "Well done, you've figured me out. Though," she sighed, seeming almost disappointed, "Not as much as you should have," she tsked, "I expected so much more."
"Who ARE you?" he demanded.
Her smirk grew deadly, "The last face you'll ever see," he tensed as he heard latches clicking, signaling doors opening, "Seems we have a few visitors."
Arthur turned around to see two doors on either side of the room opening…two very vicious looking dogs, half starved, half feral, advancing, growling and fixated on him.
"Camelot isn't the only one that can train dogs."
Arthur shook his head, only vaguely thinking he should retaliate that they don't beat or starve or drive the dogs to this point at Camelot, but a larger part of him was telling him he needed to run and NOW.
He heard the woman cackling as he ran, could hear her shouting, "Run as fast as you can, Arthur Pendragon, it won't save you!' over the barking of the dogs.
He only just managed to reach the door before it slammed shut to undoubtedly lock him inside, shoving it open and escaping to the hallway, the dogs on his tail…
~8~
"Foolish boy!" Gus snapped as he got a message from Morgan and Gwen on his little flip phone.
"What?" Merlin and Maria asked at the same time, looking over from where they'd both curled up on the same bed, feeling more comfortable and safe being closer together than in separate beds. They'd lived in such a small flat growing up that they were used to sharing a bed, it brought them a sense of security when they were upset or hurt.
"They received a summons at the labs," Gus rubbed his head, "Arthur's gone to meet someone for the cure in Baldor Warehouse. Alone."
They closed their eyes at that, "Stupid…prat…" Maria wheezed as Merlin nodded in agreement.
"Uncle…" Merlin looked at the man, weary and worn, "We need...the laptop," he pointed weakly at the one resting next to Gus.
He'd brought them one thinking it would help keep their mind off the poison for the next few days while others worked on a cure, but when he'd been informed by the Doctors that the poison was accelerated, it felt useless to him.
"Why?" Gus frowned, though he got up and brought it over to them, wheeling an eating tray to them for balance.
"If it's…'Kara,'" Maria explained, "If it's…a hacker…"
"They'll send him…somewhere they control," Merlin finished, feeling like all his energy was sapped just from speaking.
"If they can control it…"
"We can too."
Gus moved behind them, helping them sit up, moving the bed to rise more so they could have easier access to the computer and watched in amazement as they both worked together to hack into the remnants of Baldor Warehouse's power systems and control systems.
"Oh come on," Maria nearly cried as they managed to block out 'Kara' and get control of the warehouse, hacking into the security systems, getting a staticy live feed of the hallways, only to see Arthur running down them…chased by two rabid dogs.
"It's too dark," Merlin frowned, hitting a few keys and turning the lights on in the warehouse, allowing Arthur to see where he was going.
"He doesn't know where to go," Gus realized, seeing him taking random turns and not actually trying to work out an escape.
Maria leaned forward with effort, managing to get into one of the monitors, "Right…"
Gus blinked as a monitor just ahead of Arthur turned on 'Right' written across it.
Arthur seemed to hesitate, not trusting the message.
'Go right, you prat!'
"Merlin!" Gus chastised the last message, but it got through to Arthur and he turned right.
'Faster!' Maria typed, a monitor appearing to flicker on with an arrow to the left, sending Arthur that way.
'Follow the lights,' Merlin added, lighting up a hallway for Arthur to go down.
'Climb!' Maria hit a button and a door opened at the end of it, revealing a staircase behind it, all the monitors showing 'Climb' at each level Arthur reached even as the dogs kept up, only stopping when they unlocked the door to the main level for him to run through.
'Duck, roll,' Merlin typed in a command and what looked like a large dividing door started to lower from the ceiling, intent to separate the stair hall from the main building.
Arthur dove for it just as it reached two feet above the ground and rolled under it, the door closing just as the dogs reached it, sealing Arthur from them.
'Go!' Maria typed one final command, and the main door to the warehouse unlocked, Arthur rushing out of it as they collapsed back on the bed in relief, exhausted…
~8~
Arthur ran into the hospital room that held Merlin and Maria to see Gwen and Morgan within, both women looking completely drained, tears in their eyes as Gus stood at the bedside of his niece and nephew, stoic.
It only took one glance at the beds to tell him why, why the two women were allowed in the room even though it was meant to be just family while the two patients were awake…they weren't awake anymore. The doctors had assured them that the medications and IVs would help slow the poison, keep the two alert till they reached a point where the poison began to take hold…and it seemed it had.
They were both unconscious on Merlin's bed as he burst in, "I've got it!" he called, holding out the vial to Gus.
The man quickly took it and opened it, cautiously sniffing it…before tasting a drop of it, much to their confusion, "It's the cure," he agreed, it had a very distinct taste, the Mortaeus leaf, and this was certainly created from it, "We must hurry," he moved over to the beds, Morgan rushing to Merlin's side to help while Arthur took Maria's, Gwen subtly hiding the laptop she'd been hiding behind her into her large bag so Arthur and Morgan wouldn't notice it was there.
Morgan and Arthur wouldn't know, but SHE did, that Gus had a bit of hacking talent as well, just like his family it seemed. He'd hacked into the hospital systems and changed the orders from 'family only' to 'visitors accepted' for the room, which was why she and Morgan were really there. He'd explained it to her quietly when Morgan had gone to check on Merlin and Maria.
"Hold his nose," Gus called, closer to Merlin than Maria. Morgan quickly did so, holding Merlin's head back as well, his mouth open so Gus could pour half the vial into his mouth.
Arthur looked down as he felt Maria grow lax in his hold, having taken her hand when he reached her side, "Gus! Quickly!" he opened Maria's mouth and pinched her nose as Gus leaned across and poured the rest of the vial down her throat, backing away to watch the two of them with baited breath…
Gwen gasped as she looked over at the monitors, the unsteady beating of their hearts both growing flat, "No!"
"What's happening?" Arthur demanded, looking around, knowing that Gus would have administered the antidote in the way it was intended, he was a certified Doctor, these were his patients, even if they were in hospital, he would know how to administer it without needing to wait for other doctors to get there.
"Gus?" Morgan looked at him, her voice trembling.
"They can't be," Gus breathed, staring at his family with tears in his eyes, "They're…they're gone…" he turned, rushing to the doors, "Doctors!" he shouted, "Flatline!" he called, knowing they would need specialized equipment not in the room to help stand a chance of bringing them back.
"It's my fault," Arthur muttered, swallowing hard as he stepped away from the two of them, "If I'd gotten here sooner, been quicker…" he stepped over to Morgan's side, hugging her to him as she started to cry, feeling tears prickling his own eyes as Gus did the same for Gwen, pulling her out of the way as doctors rushed in, moving to check on the pateints.
"I should have looked after them better," Gus tried not to cry, "Hannah, forgive me," he murmured his sister's name, not even wanting to think about her reaction to this...
When there was a sudden beep.
"Stop pokin' me," Merlin muttered as he slowly came around to see the doctors leaning over him.
"Merlin," Gus gasped.
"You're alive!" Gwen cried.
"I'mma ghost," Merlin gave a tired grin…only for Morgan to rush forward and kiss him, making his eyes widen when she pulled away.
"Sorry," Morgan blinked, looking completely surprised and horrified she'd done that, "I just… I thought you were dead."
"I think you stopped my heart," Merlin slipped out, wincing as he realized he'd said that out loud though the happy grin that came over Morgan's face spoke volumes.
"Miss Emrys!" a shout came from beside Merlin as he looked over to see his sister being pulled away from his side, towards the Doctors as they tried to get her to respond, her own monitor remaining as a flatline, "I need the pads!" the man called.
"What's going on?" Merlin's heart literally did stop as he felt himself being pulled out of the bed by another Doctor, his sister being laid down on her back as a cart was wheeled over. In all the confusion and shouting he hadn't heard the monitor flatlining, he'd just thought if he woke Maria would too…but she hadn't, "Mia!" he struggled in the doctor's hold but was too weak to really do much, "No!"
"She drank the poison first," Morgan realized, horrified.
"Maybe it just…just takes a little longer?" Gwen looked around, hopeful yet frightened.
"Mia…" Merlin nearly fell to his knees as he saw the doctors placing the pads on her body, Gus managing to catch him and hold him.
"Clear!" the doctor shouted, and Maria's body jerked up off the bed for an instant, but there was no change.
"Come Mia," Merlin muttered, praying, "Come on…you can't leave me. You promised, always together the two of us, come on…"
"Clear!" the doctor shouted again, and Maria jerked once more…
And then there was a beep, the most glorious sound in the world to those in the room, the heart monitor restarting.
Maria coughed and turned, her body shuddering as she tried to get something out of her, a nurse rushing forward with a pan for her to vomit into as she got her breath back, the doctors checking on her once more before they laid her back down.
"Mia," Merlin hurried to his sister's side, taking her hand and kissing the back of it, "You came back."
She smiled at him weakly, looking around the room till she spotted Arthur, "Arthur?"
"Yes?" he stepped forward, not sure what to do, not thinking it proper to take her hand now that everyone was looking.
"Your mother's beautiful."
Arthur blinked at that, "What?"
"Same hair," she murmured, seeming to start to fall asleep even as she was speaking, "Same eyes, same…same smile…"
Arthur let out a breath, swallowing hard, before he shook his head and walked out of the room.
~8~
Three days after the horrifying incident involving the poison, Arthur stood in his father's office at Pendragon Security, looking out the large windows at the town below, knowing that, somewhere out there, Bayard Corp were heading back to their town and company with apologies from Camelot. His father was sitting at his desk, sorting papers, while Morgan lounged in a chair before the desk.
"So how DID you manage it?" Morgan smirked just a little, seeing Arthur wince at that.
It had NOT taken long for his father to find out what he had done, especially not after Gus had presented him with the situation and the poison, how his niece and nephew had been cured, and a woman name 'Kara's' involvement in it all.
Needless to say, despite being an adult and head of the company…he was going to be under watch for quite some time, essentially grounded.
He knew Morgan was doing it not just to try and get more information out of him, he'd been rather tight lipped about what he'd encountered in the warehouse, but because she thought his father needed to know too. Really though, it wasn't necessary, and it wasn't helpful. All it did was remind him of why he'd been there, how Maria (and Merlin) were dying, how it was his fault for not believing them, not taking more of a stand about the poison. Even his girlfriend had tried to reassure him, make him feel better, when she found out about it all, but it hadn't worked.
Just thinking about how close he'd come to losing Mar…the two of them, it was affecting him in such an extreme way and he didn't know why.
"I don't honestly know," he murmured, "I didn't do much but run. Someone else," he shook his head, being careful with his words so his father wouldn't know it was a hacker instead of physical help, "Someone else knew I was in trouble and helped get me out."
"Who?"
"I don't know," he repeated, "Whoever it was, I'm only here because of them. Those dogs…" he shuddered, "They would have torn me limb from limb."
"I'm glad you made it," Morgan got up, moving over to put a hand on his arm in comfort, not just glad he was alive and back but also that he'd succeeded. She gave him a smile and turned to go, most likely to check in on Merlin and Maria. Gus wanted to keep an eye on them, but couldn't take the time off work so they'd come with him and were to stay in the Company's infirmary while he went about his business.
"Arthur?" he stiffened hearing his father speak before he caught sight of the man moving to stand beside him out of the corner of his eye, "The woman in the warehouse, the one that lured you there…what did she tell you?"
"Between her trying to taunt me and kill me?" he shook his head, "Not much."
"You must have been frightened," his father remarked, speaking both of the poisoned assistants fighting for their lives and the deadly game to get them their cure.
"It had its moments," Arthur shrugged.
"There is something you must understand Arthur," he began, "Our company strives to create peace and security, protection and maintain order. There are those out there that would love nothing more than to see us crumble, to see security breached and chaos reigning. That is why the woman wanted you trapped, why she tried to kill you. She knew, if she harmed you, she would break me, break out company and our future keeping others safe."
"Sounds as if you know her personally," Arthur mused, hearing something more in his father's voice than just an age old lesson.
"I do," he sighed, "All hackers are the same, they steal, they lie, they cause chaos. You did the right thing even if you didn't trust me to let you," the silence between them, how Arthur didn't defend his father and say that he did trust him spoke volumes, because it was true, had his father known he would have done everything to stop him, "Your assistants are very lucky. They must have had someone watching over them for you while you were seeking the cure."
Arthur nodded, adding, "I think it was mother," after a moment.
His father stilled at that, "What?"
Arthur swallowed hard, "When Mari woke up, she said mother was beautiful, and that I had her hair, eyes and smile."
"You do."
"How would she know that?" Arthur looked at him, "When you were building this company, you were careful to keep mother out of the spotlight. There are no photos of her anywhere but our house. I think mother saved them, I think she was protecting them."
His father was silent as Arthur turned and walked out of the office, leaving the man to his thoughts on his late wife. The woman was caring, considerate, always wanted to help and keep people safe. It did make sense, in a way, that she would watch over the two assistants. It was one of the reasons he had built this company up as he had, made it their goal to provide security and protection, because of his wife. Because she always wanted to help and wanted people safe, and because he'd failed to keep her safe as well.
Those two, that Merlin and Maria, they were good people, even he could admit that, they were the sort that his wife would have adored even if HE had a more resolute and harsher outlook of people around him. Not everyone could be trusted and not everyone was who they appeared to be, he had learned that the hard way.
~8~
"I take it back, THIS makes me feel ridiculous," Maria mumbled as she chewed through her meal, some sort of odd mush her uncle had made them for lunch, not wanting them to upset their stomachs just yet.
While Merlin had seemed to recover well the last few days, SHE was still a bit weak, so much so she could hardly lift a spoon to her mouth…which resulted in her brother trying to feed her and making (what he thought were) hilarious sounds and movements as though she were a baby that needed train noises to eat her food.
It was just embarrassing to need to be fed like a toddler and she knew Merlin would never let her live it down.
"Better ridiculous than dead," a voice said behind her and she froze knowing it was Arthur.
"I agree," Merlin nodded, holding up another spoonful for her to take, enjoying her deadly glare as he kept going, but he looked up at Arthur with a smile, "We have you to thank for that. So thanks."
"It was nothing," Arthur waved it off, "Half-decent assistants are hard to come by. I was only dropping by to see if you were alright to get back to work tomorrow…"
"Oh yes, of course," Maria rolled her eyes, "I'm sure I won't be lifting anything heavier than a spoon."
Arthur chuckled at that, "Good," he went along with it even though he knew she was being sarcastic, "But I was speaking to Merlin," he looked at the boy, knowing he was stronger than Maria at the moment, which honestly wasn't saying much, "Before I get in tomorrow, I need you to replace the ink in my printer, clean the training weapons, dust the office, straighten up the employee room, and get my jacket mended from the dinner…"
Merlin sighed but nodded, starting to get up, only to run to Maria's side and catch her as she tried to get up too and nearly stumbled and fell, "What are you doing, Mia?"
"If you're supposed to do all that, you'll never get it done by morning without help," she stated, "So I'll help."
"Oh yeah, how?" he raised an eyebrow, "You can barely stand and ALL of that is heavier than a spoon."
"I'll find a way," she insisted.
"It…" Arthur began, speaking before Merlin could, speaking before he even seemed to realize he was doing it, "It can wait a few more days," he shrugged, "Just…take care of your sister," he pointed at Merlin, "I do want you both back by the start of next week though."
Merlin nodded, his eyes wide, "Yeah, yeah of course, that should be plenty of time…"
Arthur gave a brisk nod before turning to head away.
"Arthur?" Maria called as Merlin helped her sit back down, "Thank you," she offered genuinely, no sarcasm detected.
Arthur smiled, "You too, get some rest."
"He may give you both grief at times," Gus remarked from the corner of the room where he was taking inventory of bandages and gauze, "But his heart is in the right place, he's a man of honor. Not many, if any, men would risk their lives just for an assistant."
"I still don't understand why this Nimueh bird tried to frame Bayard Corp," Maria shook her head. She and Merlin had gone back and managed to trace the original hack of the warehouse back to the same person that released the virus in Camelot, Nimueh…and, given Arthur's description of the woman in the warehouse, it was 'Kara' too, it was the same woman.
"If she really wanted to kill Arthur, she just had to stand there and watch," Merlin agreed, "He would have drank the poison along with all the other Camelot employees, and even Bayard Corp too if we hadn't warned them."
"If it was some sort of takeover, it would have been better to keep silent," Maria nodded.
Gus looked at them with a deep frown on his face, "You don't see it, do you?" they frowned at him, "It was never about Arthur or Camelot, or Bayard corp…it was about YOU. She knew if she told you, you'd make a spectacle and be forced to drink it instead. It was YOU she wanted to kill, the both of you. It seems she wasn't very happy when you stopped her virus."
Merlin and Maria looked at each other at the implication that 'Nimueh' knew the 'Wizard and the Witch' were them.
If she knew…then she had to have proof, and it would only be a matter of time before she used it to out them to everyone.
A/N: I'm sorry this chapter wasn't up last week like it was meant to be :( A few people called out at my work and I had to fill in which cut into my time editing it. By the time I finished, it was Sunday and I thought it might be better to wait 3 days to post instead of posting the chapter 4 days late.
For this chapter, I wanted Marayna to be a little different from her last self, she's had a different life in a different world than she did in the original series. She wouldn't be able to sense things the way she used to with magic involved, so she's no more wary of 'Kara' than anyone else would be of a normal assistant. She may grow to be more naturally suspicious as time goes on, but without magic, she's at a little more of a disadvantage.
I can say there's more going on than just hacking and some reasons why certain hackers are targeting Camelot are very deeply personal for them which we'll see about very soon. Let's just say, Camelot really had a dark history at one point in time and a lot of people suffered for it }:)
Some notes on reviews...
For this story, and most of the spin-offs, I write a chapter and then post it, so it's one by one instead of prewriting the entire thing :) I want to try and get a few chapters ahead, but I don't see myself prewriting the entire story for this one ;)
Yup, Morgan's little hint was how Maria's dress got to her flat ;)
I can't say if they'll get their memories back or not, in a full sense of remembering everything, we'll have to wait and see about that. Though I can say a near-death experience might trigger some rather...odd dreams ;)
I'm really glad you're enjoying the stories so far and that they brighten up your day a little, that really means a lot to me :') I hope it never comes to needing financial help, but I'm very touched that you feel I might get some donations if it ever came to it though, it makes me feel cared about :)
Hacking will have something to do with it, it'll be more the threat it poses to Camelot's secrets, only hackers would be able to really dig up the very bad dirt in Camelot's past and that terrifies Uther so he wants to keep any and all hackers away. But there'll be more coming that will explain this story's version of 'the Purge' and how the paranoia Uther held for magic will translate here ;) So likely no actual magic, but there will be some things Uther will be vehement about prosecuting and dealing with swiftly and without mercy }:)
I can say there is something unique about Killian ;) He does seem to know more than he's letting on, but whether it's memories we'll have to wait and see ;)
We'll definitely see more of Maria at the museum yup ;) Thank you for pointing that out though, I went back and fixed it :) We'll have to wait and see how Morgause plays into this, but she's definitely going to be gunning for Uther and Camelot for a few reasons ;)