Despite the picture he'd seen, despite knowing that he was… different, Merlin couldn't help the shock he felt at seeing his once-guardian lying prone on the oversized hospital bed… Young. His hair was short and dark. His skin was tan with a light splattering of freckles across his nose. Merlin could tell he was taller than he used to be, thinner, and stronger.

So very unlike the frail old man he'd once known.

"That's Gaius?" Gwen asked skeptically, once Rylee was out of the room. She walked up to the bed and folded her hand around the man's. "How is he… I mean. What…?"

The young warlock rested a hand on the man's shoulder and felt the familiar rush of Gaius' magic. His magic itself was aged, experienced, and achingly familiar. "It's him. His magic is still the same. Every person's magic is unique to themselves. Gaius'… it's his."

Arthur stood behind them, arms folded across his chest. "Do you think Rylee knows about his magic?"

"Not that I can tell," Merlin said. "Although, if she did, I doubt she'd tell us about it. She probably thinks we'd think her mad." He walked towards the end of the bed, where the nurse had left his updated medical chart. He snatched it off the hanger and began flipping through its pages. "Comatose. Unexplained. Unsurprising, given our luck. Oh, he was born in London. He's only a few years older than I am. Younger than Leon and Perce, but older than all three of us."

"Much older," Gwen smiled softly.

"Colin Jones? Doctor Colin Jones?"

Their eyes were all diverted to an older man standing in the doorway, holding a clipboard in one hand. His eyes filled with recognition before he walked further into the room. "It is you!"

Merlin forced a smile and shook the man's hand. "William Ulrich! Wonderful to see you again. How've you been?"

"Good, good. Hey, I'm sorry to hear about Jon. He was a good man."

The warlock closed his eyes, thinking of the old Commissioner. It had been a few months now since his passing, but it still hurt to think of his old friend. He had, after all, been the one to reconnect Merlin with his friends of old. He owed him a debt of gratitude he couldn't begin to repay.

"Thank you. Hey, Will, what can you tell me about this man? Are you his doctor?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, I am. Well, I'm sure you've already looked through his medical chart. His coma has no explanation. An anonymous caller called it in, and there hasn't been a change in his condition since he's been brought it. You know him?"

Merlin took a deep breath. "He's my uncle. On my mother's side."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Will said sympathetically. His brow furrowed and the deep thought on his face was clear. "Hey, I heard you were working with the police now?" When Merlin nodded, the doctor continued. "Well, Colin, you should probably know that this isn't the only unexplained coma patient we have here. There are two more. I thought it must be a coincidence, but with this third patient..."

Arthur, who had been carefully listening in on the exchange, said, "Someone's been putting people in comas? You think it's on purpose? I'm sorry, I'm Detective Bradley James from Scotland Yard. You were saying there's two more comatose patients with the same symptoms?"

"Um, yes, sir," the doctor said, clearing his throat. "One a young man, another a young woman. They were admitted three nights apart from each other. No apparent connection between the two of them. Both comatose with no apparent reason."

The warlock looked between the doctor and the detective, frowning in thought. "If this is as you suspect, we'll need their files and personal information."

"I'll open a formal case file for it," Arthur suggested, already grabbing his phone out of his pocket. "Merlin, I'll call Leon. You look at the patient files." He walked out of the room, pressing his phone against his ear.

"I'll just show you to their rooms?" William suggested.

Merlin nodded. "Please."

The elder man guided him down the hallway, passing only a handful of rooms before he entered one. The name on the door was Claire Bennett. A young woman, perhaps in her early twenties, was laid on the bed. Her heart monitor beeped steadily in the corner. A plastic tube was stretched across her upper lip, pushing air into her nostrils.

The doctor grabbed her medical chart. "Claire Bennett. Nineteen years old. When she didn't come home from work, her parents went looking for her and was found unconscious on the ground. Physically unharmed saved for a bruise on her head. Presumably from falling given the size. No witnesses. She was the first one admitted, nearly a week ago. Her family visits everyday."

As habit, Merlin checked her vitals, even peeling her eyelids back. Her eyes didn't respond to the light; they were a blank slate, lifeless. Almost soul-less.

"Next one is a few more doors down."

William turned and walked out; Merlin followed him down the hallway and into a room a few more doors down. There was a young man laying in the bed.

"James Matthews. Twenty five. Admitted three days ago. He was found in an alleyway behind his work by a coworker. No witnesses to the incident. Physically unharmed. No apparent reason for the coma. His fiancé works as a nurse at this very hospital. And now your uncle. It doesn't make sense."

Merlin huffed. None of this was making sense. In all his years, he couldn't remember there ever being a time with unexplained comas. Every medical case always had an explanation, where its cause was rooted in science, or…

"Oh." Merlin hesitantly reached forward and set a hand on the young man's shoulder. He sent out just a tiny thread of his own magic, testing out the young man's abilities. Yes. Yes, there it was. This man had magic. He could feel the familiarity of it. But there was something distinctly wrong. Matthews' magic was screaming out. It was missing something. Part of his magic was missing. Would it be the same with the other two? Is that what had perhaps cause the coma? Their magic missing?

But he had tested Gaius' magic before and nothing had cried out with him like it had before.

"Did you find something?"

He turned back around to William, letting his hand fall from the young man's shoulders. Merlin pressed his lips together. "Afraid not," he lied. "I should get back to Arthur. He's probably opened an official case by now so we can get started on figuring out why this is happening."

They walked out of the patient's room together, this time Merlin took the lead. By the time he arrived at Richard's room Rylee had returned. She held a steaming cup of coffee at the end and was smiling at something Gwen had said. Arthur got back only seconds after they did. The doctor had to return to his shift, but made sure to get Merlin's phone number and promised to call if anything changed.

The warlock thanked him and went to Gaius' side. He reached out and tested out his magic, as he had with the other patient's. Gaius magic met his, but this time, he pushed further, pushing his magic deeper into his friend… Yes. It was subtle, and there was less… But there was still magic missing. There was still so much gone.

Arthur grabbed his arm and pulled him a few steps away. "Leon is talking with my father now about opening a formal investigation, but he doesn't think there will be a problem. We should start looking into it immediately. I'll have Leon try to find a commonality between the three of them."

"I agree. I think I figured out why all these people are comatose."

His eyebrow peaked with surprise but he smiled, prideful. "Already? What've you found?"

Merlin snorted. "They're missing some of their magic. Yeah, I know," he said to his friend's surprised face. "At least one of the other patients has magic, and a good portion of it is simply missing. Magic is in their very being, so when part of them is taken, their bodies would automatically shut down."

"Okay, so why is their magic missing?"

"That's what I don't understand. They have no injuries. No marks on them. I don't see how it could have been taken."

"Well, we'd better get started then."

Rylee and Guinevere opted to stay with Gaius. The warlock made sure that Rylee knew she was welcome back at his place whenever she wanted to return. The once-queen said she'd keep the young woman occupied until they returned.

"We'll start with Claire Bennett's file," Arthur said. He shuffled the papers around that the kind receptionist had given him. "Start at her home and then pop into her work. Sound good? Merlin?"

The aged warlock blinked and shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "Sorry, I'm still trying to figure out how they did it."

"One step at a time, my friend."

They arrived at the car, and Merlin pulled up directions to the young woman's address. It was a beautiful two story house. Brick, with ivy crawling up it. When they knocked on the door, an older woman answered.

"Yes, can I help you?"

Arthur pulled out his credentials and showed them to her. "Mrs. Bennett, I presume? Detective Bradley James from Scotland Yard. This is my partner, Colin Jones. We just have a few questions about Claire Bennett."

"Oh my god." Tears glossed her eyes. "Is she?"

"She's fine," Merlin quickly assured her. "She's in the same condition as she was. Truth is, there were two more admitted in the same condition. We're just trying to find a link between them."

The woman took a moment to compose herself before she allowed them inside. It looked larger inside than it did outside. Spacious and colorful.

"Mom? Mom, is someone here?"

A boy came bounding down the stairs. Maybe fourteen. He wore jeans and a band tee shirt. Messy brown hair fell over blue eyes. Merlin could easily see the resemblance.

"Just some men with some questions about Claire, dear. Nothing to worry about."

The kid eyed them skeptically before trotting back up the stairs.

"Daniel," she said in explanation. "He's been very brave. Would you like some tea? Coffee, maybe?"

"Tea would be lovely, thank you."

"Please, take a seat in the living room. I'll be right out."

"Thank you, ma'am."

Arthur walked into the living room, the warlock following. There were pictures strewn across the room, Frames hung from the walls, standing on the fireplace. All of their family and friends. There were a handful of bouquets of various flowers and sympathy cards wishing the family well during this hard time.

Mrs. Bennett sat on the couch across from them, her fingers fidgeting with her wedding band anxiously. "We were planning on visiting Claire soon as her father came home from work this afternoon. Did you just come from the hospital?"

"Yes, ma'am," Merlin answered softly. "Claire is stable, though we're still not sure of the cause of her condition."

She nodded.

"You and your husband were the ones who found her, yes?"

"Yeah, um. She had said she was going to be home at nine from work. And she always calls if she'll be late. She knows how I worry. Anyway, when she didn't come home… We waited until ten before we tried calling. There was no answer. So we went out looking for her. She was…" The woman sniffed. "She was sitting against the wall, unconscious. We couldn't rouse her. Nothing had been stolen. We called an ambulance, and… Well, you saw the results. The doctor's are baffled. They have no answers."

There was a squeak on the stairs, and Merlin glanced over to see young Daniel ducking behind the wall. Arthur was still talking to Mrs. Bennett, and the warlock excused himself. Neither paid him any mind. Merlin reached the stairs just in time to see the boy jump inside his room and shut his door. He cautiously climbed the stairs, cringing at every squeak.

He gave a light rap on the door. When there was no answer, he twisted the handle and pushed it open. The room was dark, the blinds drawn despite the early morning light. The only light came from the computer screen sitting on the desk. "Daniel?"

"What do you want?"

The boy was sitting on the bed, his eyes narrowed, but also curious.

"We're trying to find out what happened to your sister."

"But you know what's happened. You sensed it too."

Merlin felt his breath catch. "Sensed what, Daniel?" He took several cautious steps forward, sitting down in the computer chair. "What are you talking about?"

The boy's brow furrowed. There was frustration in his voice. "But you have to! I sensed you. You have it too. You must. You're like us."

"What do you mean, Daniel?" he asked again, slowly. Oh, he had a very good idea of what the boy was asking, but he had to make sure. And the fact that he could have sensed his magic. Why, that took a lot of skill indeed. And now that Merlin sought out the magic in the house, he could feel it… Pulsing through the air. It wasn't only Claire who had magic. It was all of them.

A family with magic.

"You have… magic." He mouthed the last word, not even daring to say it.

A wide grin spread across Merlin's lips. It was so rare to find anyone with magic anymore, much less a whole family. It was wonderful. Beautiful. "I do. So do you." It wasn't a question.

The boy gasped as his theories were confirmed. "Mum!" The boy ran past him and raced down the stairs. "Mum!"

"Daniel? Daniel, what's wrong?"

Merlin followed him down the stairs and found the young boy tugging on his mother's sleeve excitedly. The once-king stood beside her looking extremely perplexed.

"Mum! He has magic! Like us! He can help Claire!"

"Daniel! That's enough now. Stop it." She looked between Merlin and Arthur, her face apologetic. But her eyes betrayed the panic within her. "I'm sorry. You know kids these days. Their fantasies."

"But, mum…"

Merlin snapped his fingers, his eyes glowing a honey-gold for only seconds before a hot flame danced in the palm of his hand. It flickered and snapped. Mrs. Bennett gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Daniel was encased by it.

A second later, the flame was gone, having burned itself out.

The young boy beamed up at his mother. "I told you, mum."

Mrs. Bennett collapsed on the couch, a single tear tracing its way down her cheek. The awe and relief in her eyes was clear. "You really… You really have magic?" When the warlock nodded, the mother took a deep breath and pulled the collar of her shirt down a little, revealing a patch of skin just under her collarbone.

There, in dark ink, was a Druid tattoo.

This time, Arthur was the one that gasped. "You're a Druid."

The woman and the boy's eyes snapped to him, distrust coloring their eyes.

"He knows my secret, of course," Merlin said quickly. "It's okay. He can be trusted."

Mrs. Bennett took a breath, wrapping her arm around the boy's shoulders. "Yes, we're Druids. My whole family. And if you have magic, then… you know about Claire. Then I assume you realize the problem."

"Some of her magic was missing," Merlin answered. "What I don't understand is how or why."

"We can't figure that out either. But I feel better knowing that someone else with the gift is helping. Thank you, Mr. Jones."

He nodded, and they said their goodbyes. Merlin gave them his phone number should they need anything and promised to keep them updated on the case.