A/N: Thank you GuestM Live, Buckhunter, and leyapearl for reviewing!

No. 9 Caught in a Storm

The day started out sunny and temperate, the perfect weather for a leisurely hunt in the woods. But then things changed drastically. Merlin had only seen a storm roll in this fast once or twice in his life. One moment the leaves were glinting with yellow light, the next a dark cloud cover had blocked out the blue sky and a gusting wind had picked up.

"We should head back, Sire," Leon said.

Arthur tilted his head up to survey the dark brume, then nodded in agreement. A minute later, the deluge began, soaking them all within moments. Lightning flashed high in the clouds, followed by the rumble of thunder.

Merlin shivered as the biting wind nipped at the back of his neck, his waterlogged neckerchief offering no protection. They were all likely to catch cold in this, and Camelot was at least a half-hour's march away.

Lightning forked out in horizontal branches directly above, the clap of thunder simultaneous with the burst. Merlin's rib cage rattled with the booming report, the reverberating shock almost tripping him in fright.

"We need to get out of this!" Gwaine shouted above the raging gales.

But there was nowhere to go.

Merlin felt the static on the air a split moment before a lash of lightning arced straight down, striking a tree to their right. The trunk splintered as the current traveled downward into the ground, but an offshoot shot out and hit Lancelot. Merlin barely had time to process his friend being thrown through the air before the current in the ground went zinging up through his feet. The minor jolt upended his balance and knocked him down.

Merlin's hands slipped through the mud as he struggled to get up, his skin tingly. Around him, the others were groaning and doing the same. Except for Lancelot, who lay a few yards away, completely still. Merlin scrabbled over to him, frantically wiping his muddy hands on his trousers before reaching out to check his friend. He wasn't breathing.

But no sooner had he touched Lancelot that Merlin's magic suddenly jolted out on its own and into the knight. Lancelot arched and then collapsed again, still unconscious. Merlin gaped in shock, his magic staticky under his skin.

Leon dropped down beside him, reaching to check Lancelot's pulse and then shooting Merlin an alarmed look when he didn't find one.

Merlin tentatively touched Lancelot again, and another burst of magic erupted between them, smaller this time but still making Lancelot jerk.

"What was that?" Leon exclaimed.

"I don't know," Merlin said honestly. He knew it was his magic, but he had no idea why it was behaving this way. Maybe from taking some of that lightning strike. All he did know was that he could feel his magic surging through Lancelot's heart, and for a brief second there, it had given a faint beat before falling deathly still again.

So, ignoring what it would look like to Arthur and the knights, Merlin pressed both his palms over Lancelot's sternum and pushed down with all his might while silently summoning his magic. It was a charged current of its own, and Merlin didn't know if it would actually work, but he could feel the crackle and fizzle as it shocked Lancelot's heart. Lancelot twitched beneath him, but in the next space of a breath, Merlin felt a thump-thump beneath his hands. He jerked his arms back and leaned forward to see if Lancelot was breathing. He was.

Leon was looking at him wide-eyed, but with the storm still raging dangerously, there was no time for him to cast accusations of sorcery.

Merlin craned his neck over his shoulder and yelled, "We need to move!"

Percival staggered over and pulled Lancelot up over his shoulder. Then they continued their frantic pace to escape the storm as lightning and thunder continued their cacophony overhead.

"Over here!" Arthur shouted, waving urgently. He'd found a cave, and they all hurried inside.

Percival laid Lancelot on the ground, and Merlin dropped down beside him to make sure his heart was still beating. It was, but he was clearly gravely wounded. Merlin started to peel off Lancelot's soaked layers with Percival's help. Percival gasped at the sight of a long streak of feathering burns up one side of Lancelot's torso. Merlin swallowed hard and snatched up Lancelot's shirt, then went to the cave opening to wash out the mud and dirt in the pouring rain before returning to lay the wet fabric over the burns to cool them. It was the only thing he could do here.

His magic didn't feel as charged as it had initially, but it still tingled beneath his skin, so he was careful not to touch anyone else as he asked after any other injuries. No one else had received a direct strike, though, just a minor transference like Merlin had.

They got a fire going with what little dried brush was already inside the cave, then sat down to wait out the storm. No one spoke. The pounding rain was so loud they'd have to shout to be heard, and there was a solemn heaviness in the cave as they all kept glancing anxiously at Lancelot. Merlin frequently rinsed out Lancelot's shirt and replaced it over the burns. While he worried about a chill, better the shirt didn't dry and then stick to the wounds.

Lancelot's moan was barely audible in the cave, but Merlin was sitting close enough to see his face scrunching up as consciousness brought the awareness of pain.

"Lancelot?" he called, leaning over his friend.

Lancelot's eyes opened to slits.

"Easy, you're badly hurt," Merlin said.

Lancelot's brows furrowed and he started to roll his head to look around. "What happened?" he asked hoarsely.

"You got hit by lightning."

"What?"

"Lightning struck a tree and then you."

Lancelot's eyes rounded in panic. "I can't hear…"

He started to sit up, and Merlin and Percival quickly grabbed his arms to keep him down.

"Easy!" Merlin practically shouted. That got Lancelot to still and look at him. "You got hit by lightning!" he said loudly and slowly, raising his brows in question.

Lancelot nodded in comprehension.

"I'm sure the hearing loss is temporary!"

Lancelot let out a shuddering breath and sagged on the ground again.

"Are you in pain?"

He nodded.

"I'm sorry I don't have anything for it!"

Arthur came over and crouched at his feet, waiting for Lancelot to meet his eyes. "We'll leave once the storm passes," he said loudly. "Just rest."

The cave fell silent again. Lancelot closed his eyes and tried to rest, but he kept having minute muscle spasms that disturbed him. Merlin wished there was something he could do, but even if he could get away with using magic under everyone's noses, he didn't trust it at the moment.

But the storm finally petered out to just light rain, and so they gathered themselves and set off toward Camelot again. Lancelot insisted on walking, but he was flanked and supported on both sides the entire way, since he was clearly struggling to keep his feet. Still, dogged determination worked in his favor this time, and they made it to Gaius in one piece.

The court physician had a tin of balm he spread over the feathered burns and gave Lancelot a tonic to drink for the pain, which promptly knocked him out. As for the hearing loss, they'd have to wait and see.

"He's lucky to be alive," Gaius commented. "A direct strike is normally fatal."

"He wasn't breathing at first," Leon spoke up. "But then Merlin did something…"

Merlin tensed at the note of question in Leon's tone and the perplexed looks the others gave him. Gaius shot him a covert glare.

"We all got a little zing from the strike," Merlin quickly said. "When I touched Lancelot, it was like a lingering charge went from me into him…and somehow started his heart again."

"Is that possible?" Elyan asked curiously.

Gaius hummed. "It is an interesting topic, but not one we're likely to get an opportunity to study. Now, my patient needs rest and you all need to change out of those wet clothes." He started to shoo them all out. "If you start experiencing any unusual symptoms, come back," he instructed.

Once they had all left, he turned back to Merlin with a shrewd look.

"Was your explanation true?"

"Yes. But…my magic was involved."

"Merlin," Gaius huffed in exasperation.

"I didn't do anything overt!" he promised. "My magic was affected by the strike too. Made it…discharge on its own. I just made sure to direct it to Lancelot in that moment once I realized what it was doing."

Gaius hummed. "Lancelot is very lucky, then."

Merlin nodded soberly. He was all too aware of that, having felt the utter stillness of his best friend's heart in those terrifying moments.

"Get out of those wet clothes, Merlin," Gaius said more kindly. "I'll make you some soup."

Merlin smiled gratefully.