Out of Time

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: WOW! I'm guessing that last one kind of upset you guys! I got a lot more reviews then I usually get. I should throw out chapters like that more often huh? HAHA don't worry the next heartbreaking chapter isn't for at least another 20 chapters and you guys might be very very mad at me after that one. I'll apologize in advance when that chapter comes up, big flashing warning on the top of that one.

So I'm going to address a few questions that people keep asking and then I'll let your get the chapter. So this story is rated M, I know that nothing M rated has happened yet but I put that M rating up for two reasons. Firstly, one of my stories got flagged a few years back because I had it on a T rating and my swearing was abominable. And since Addison swears like a sailor in this story I put an M rating up just in case. Secondly, after a certain point in the story there is going to be a lot of sex, and gore and other unsavoury things. And sine you guys are getting all excited for that, I guess I'm going to have to be pretty descriptive with the sex scene huh?

So I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and the little moments I've put in for Addison and Arthur and please review as I'd love to make it to 150 reviews before 2017! Thanks so much for reading and hope to hear from all of you soon!

Thank-you to SwitchbladeKittens for being my 120th review. Thanks to unknown-tessa for being my 210th follower!

Shoutouts: Cordapia, daydreamer06980, Guest (1234), Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, unknown-tessa, shinigamigymnast13, Terra-Fair, kirstybear, Dark Angel 792, rankagi, BlueEyedGunSlinger, RiverOfTheWolf, suzie0821, SwitchbladeKittens, DinaWho, and Storytelling-Doll

Chapter 25: Out of Mercy

The whole castle had heard about Addison and Arthur's falling out. And they had sat back not wondering how the fall out had happened but when the two would make up. But as the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, the two did not make up and the Castle became a moody, gloomy place.

Arthur had not stopped caring for Arthur though, that was clear for all to see, just as Addison had not stopped caring for him, but neither seemed willing to make that first move towards forgiveness or the making of amends. Instead, Arthur would send someone to take Addison out for the day and inquire after her health and happiness while Addison was sure to have certain things remembered. Like having someone compliment him on his new boots or reminding someone to give him his favourite dessert on days that had been tiring for him.

This left their friends in the horrible position of spying upon the two and reporting back what they learned. The one who was most frequently caught in the middle of this whole mess was Merlin. He was the one who was given leave to take Addison out to practice her magic and the one who was reminded to bring Arthur treats on the hard days. He was the one who told Arthur how Addison was doing or if there was anything Addison wanted and the one who reported back to Addison on Arthur's happiness, which was non-existent those days.

That day in particular had been like all the others. Merlin started by checking on Addison who was awake and eating breakfast in her cell. He then went up to Arthur who was in the process of waking up and gave him his breakfast. He told Arthur all about Addison that morning, being sure to stress that she had eaten all of her breakfast and that she seemed healthy as a horse and her usual happy self. After making Arthur's bed and cleaning up after Arthur's breakfast mess, Arthur gave Merlin permission to take Addison for a walk that day.

Which lead to where they were at that very moment.

Addison, with her arm intertwined with Merlin walked beside him very quietly. Merlin had run out of things to talk to her about five minutes ago and was struggling to find anything else he could possibly talk to her about. He had taken her out that day to get practice but turned into just expelling magic and what might have been a bit of a rage over her situation with Arthur. Merlin had tried very hard not to listen to her screaming about Arthur and his stupid good looking chiselledness and his dumb luck at being the world's most famous prince.

It downright killed him to see his two friends like this.

Their silent walk had been interrupted by this sudden voice that echoed in both Merlin and Addison's head, though neither new that it had.

Help.

It was a child's voice. It was terrified and warbling. It was so loud and strong that it stopped both Merlin and Addison in their tracks.

The two exchanged glances.

"Why did you stop?" Merlin asked.

"Why did you?" Addison shot back.

Help me! The voice called again.

Again the two of them turned to stare at each other. Both waiting for the other to say something or to hear from the voice again.

Addison broke the showdown of glares first. "You hearing a voice in your head asking for help?" she asked.

"Yes," Merlin replied shakily.

"Yeah, me too."

Please, you have to help me!

They were looking around when Addison spotted him. A lone child in a deep turquoise colored cloak, his wild blue eyes were wide and glimmering with fear but when he noticed that she had spotted him she saw a dash of hope light up on his face.

"There," she said, moving towards him immediately but Merlin grabbed her arm and stopped him. "Oy!" she cried. "The kid's calling for help telepathically, we should be moving not staying over here."

Merlin's eyes were on the soldiers that were filing into the courtyard, all asking about a boy. Addison's eyes followed his and then sighed, okay so maybe he had a point, they clearly needed more of a plan.

Please, they're searching for me! The boy told them sounding more and more panicked by the second.

"Oh for the love of God! Merlin, come on, before he's spotted," Addison hissed ripping her arm out of Merlin's grasp.

Why are they after you? Merlin asked in his head, his hand immediately reaching out and grabbing her again, tugging her back to his side. He wasn't certain that Addison would hear until she answered with: "Magic. Fucking DUH!"

He ignored her to hear the boy's response, even though her answer was clearly a good deal of it. The problem was that Merlin was worried. For some reason, this kid was giving him a bad feeling. He very much felt like something else was going on which left him with an icky feeling of suspicion.

They're going to kill me.

"Oh. That is it!" Addison said, throwing Merlin's arm off she rushed to the boy's side, Merlin wanted to stay with her but rushed to the nearest doorway. One that, luckily, lead to a servant's entrance to the castle. He watched as Addison stalked purposely over to the boy, the guards were barely paying attention to her, which was the way she liked it.

"Hello," she said cheerily to the young boy who stared up at her not knowing what to do. "Don't talk out loud huh? That's fine, I'll talk for the both of us, how does that sound?" The boy continued to stare and Addison turned to see what the guards were doing. "Alright, take my hand, we're going to walk nice and slowly towards the man with the giant ears over there, stay calm, I've got this."

The little boy put a hand to hers, and Addison felt a sticky wetness meet her palm as his fingers laced through hers and she refused to look down to see what it was. There were bigger things to worry about. She stared straight ahead and pulled him to her side trying to hide him behind her skirts. She noticed a few guards close by and she immediately began to hum and when they edged even closer with suspicious intent in their eyes she began to sing.

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, never let it fade away. Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket it, turn around and walk away.

It wasn't the words, it was an order and the guards seemed perplexed about it, but already their steps towards her were faltering.

There's nothing here for you to see now, you can walk away. Just a servant going to the castle, nothing suspicious here you ninnies. Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, please just go away!

The soldiers shook their heads as if their head was buzzing and maybe it was, but one of them nudged the other and indicated to a few shadowy pillars on the opposite side of the courtyard. Addison let out her breath and her steps quickened as she pulled the boy towards where Merlin was waiting.

Merlin tried to pull Addison into the shadowy doorway first but she fairly shoved the boy at him. There came a shout and Addison turned to see guards pointing at them and rushing towards them.

"Run!" Merlin cried and they split ways before Merlin could tell Addison to stay with him. She went through a second door and into the corridor while Merlin went up the stairs towards the royal wings. He could only hope that she'd be fine because at that moment all he could afford to worry about was himself and the boy.

He was trying to take him to Gaius's chambers but he heard guards rushing towards him from all ways. So, he backtracked and went through the servant's entrance to a room he hoped was empty.

But of course, with Merlin's luck he found both Morgana and Gwen staring at him as he slammed the door shut behind him.

"Merlin! Do you not knock anymore?" Morgana asked, her eyes finding the boy and the happy smile disappearing from her face.

"They're after him and I didn't know where else to go," he said breathlessly.

Now Morgana and Gwen were both staring at the boy who was swaying on his feet and gripping the arm Merlin had around him tightly. There came an incessant knocking on the door. There were a few moments of indecision on Morgana's face. It was her chambers after all and her decision to kick him out.

"Over there!" she whispered and Merlin pulled the boy over to a corner where there was a curtain. He had just drawn it across to hide them when she opened the door.

"Sorry to disturb you my lady," the guard said. Merlin had his back pressed against the cold stone of the wall, he had let go of the boy for only a moment when he collapsed, Merlin had to catch him to keep him from making a sound as the guard continued to speak. "We're searching for a young druid boy. We believe he came this way."

As Merlin lowered him to the floor as soundlessly as he could he heard Morgana say: "I haven't seen anyone. It's just me and my maid."

"Best keep the door locked till we find him," The guard replied, not for once believing that the Lady Morgana would lie to him, thankfully.

She said a polite thank you to him and then shut the door, locking it firmly behind her. Within seconds both Gwen and Morgana were being the curtain as well, staring down at Merlin who was only the floor holding the boy. Merlin had been holding him tight and when he moved his hand he could see just why the boy was in such distress, you know other then the guards being after him.

There was a giant gash on his arm leaking profusely.

Addison ran as fast as she could, with the guards chasing her, usually they gave up by now but this time they seemed intent on chasing her down every corridor she led them through. She rounded the corner, hoping that she could dash into a room quickly and wait for them to pass before sneaking out and going the other way, when she slammed face first into a very broad and muscular chest.

She gasped and would have fallen if a strong grip hadn't pulled her back towards that warmth she already knew. She looked up into Arthur's eyes, out of breath and not just because she had been run for ten minutes straight now. Those blue eyes, though glaring at her were completely the same. Utterly dazzling.

"They're after me," she whispered, the sounds of the guardsmen chasing her growing frantically louder in her ears as they got closer to discovering the two them.

Arthur looked up and swore softly. He took her immediately and threw her into an empty room before shutting the door and quickly stepping out to meet the guards who came thundering around the corner.

"My Lord!" they all said loudly, bowing to him, to which Arthur replied with a nod.

"We think we saw Addison out on her own, she might have gone this way and with this druid…."

"You let Addison escape?" Arthur asked interrupting anything else they could continue to say.

"Well, we had no idea that she was out in the first place. The dungeon keeper says you sent someone down to retrieve her for a morning walk. We thought that with these druids out and about that we should get her back, especially since she had lost her escort," one of the guards explained.

Arthur growled, of course Merlin had lost her. Why had he trusted that idiot with her? This wouldn't have happened if she had been with him.

"I'll deal with Addison," he said. "You keep looking for that druid boy."

He waited for them to rush away before opening the door and entering the room. At first glance he couldn't see where Addison had gone. It was merely a spare room for putting second rate guests. When she wasn't where he could see her, he knew exactly where she had hidden.

He walked over to the bed and got down on all fours. He lay down on the floor and lifted up the bed skirt to find Addison lying there, her face down against the cold stones. She lifted her head up and stared at him, her eyes wide and blue and boring into him.

"Where's Merlin?" he asked.

"Your shirt's going to get dirty," Addison replied with a soft whisper, her eyes lowering to avoid his.

Arthur sighed. Alright, so she didn't want to talk about Merlin. "You know, they just wanted to escort you to your cell, dangerous people are about and they were worrying about your welfare," he whispered to her.

"I didn't know that," Addison replied. "I never know what they want when they shout at me to halt. It could be because Uther's mad and wants to get rid of me, or because I'm in trouble again, or because they just want to take me down to the cells. I've learned that sometimes it's just better for me to run first and ask questions later."

Arthur stayed quiet to watch her. It was true. That was a wise choice for her, and he understood why she had run in fear, though it angered him that she hadn't even thought once to run and find him like she would have done a couple moths prior.

Arthur offered her hand, "Come now, let's get you out of here. I'll escort you downstairs so there won't be any further questions."

Addison put her hand in his and let him pull her out from under the bed. When they were both up on two feet, Addison went to pull her hand away only to find that Arthur would not let go. His blue eyes had gone dark with what seemed to be anger, he gripped her wrist and turn her palm upward where she could see what the problem was.

Her hand was marred with the dark red stickiness of blood.

"What happened? How did you hurt yourself?" He asked, his voice thinly veiled with anger. When he found Merlin he was going to wring his neck. The whole point behind letting Merlin take Addison out was to get her the exercise, both for walking and for her powers, but she was supposed to safe. Merlin had promised to keep her safe.

"I don't think I did," she replied. "At least, it doesn't hurt. It must not be mine."

"Then how did you get blood on your hand?" he snarled, not a single hint of a smile on his face.

Addison paused for a moment thinking of a clever lie. "Well, I did go to the butcher's today, you know, the one with the handsome son? I guess I put my hand in something when I was talking to him. I always get distracted when around cute boys," she said with what she hoped wasn't a shaky smile.

For a brief second a darkness passed over Arthur's features, completely unnoticed by Addison who had been looking the other way. By the time she looked back at him the darkness was gone and she was left to assume that, while mentioning the handsome butcher's son had made Arthur jealous before, this admission certainly didn't make Arthur jealous now. And Arthur wasn't about to admit that it had to her, not now, after everything that had happened and the distance that had been put between them.

"We'll get you cleaned up on the way," Arthur said carefully, avoiding her eyes. He dropped his grip on her hand and backed one step away as if putting distance between his person and a dirty beggar.

Addison lowered her eyes and bobbed a slight curtsy which made Arthur wince. He hated it when she was proper with him, but he supposed that this was what he deserved. At least he could see no more traces of that welt he had left on her face. It had only taken two months for the damn thing to recede from her lovely pale face.

He didn't offer her an arm while they walked, and they didn't say a word to one another as they went. But by the time Arthur had seen her to the dungeons the whole castle was a twitter with the possibility of a reconciliation in the near future.

The following day the Druid that had been captured, the one who had travelled with the boy to Camelot, was executed. The boy, so distraught screamed and shattered a near-by vase. Proving he did in fact have magical powers like Merlin possessed. Still Merlin didn't trust him. Something was still off and it wasn't just the fact that he had magical powers. This boy, no matter how young he was, made Merlin uneasy.

Across the castle a different matter was being handled.

Addison was brought in front of Uther, and all the courtiers were sent away, all except Arthur who refused to be sent away once it was made clear that the secret meeting was to be about his ward. Addison stood before him, dressed in a rich purple dress that Uther didn't remember buying for her, or approving Arthur to buy for her, that complemented her complexion and dark hair was fiddling with the simply adorned silver belt. An accessory he didn't remember allowing to be bought for her either.

Since Arthur and Addison had ended their tumultuous friendship, Uther had noted that both seemed to be on edge around one another, awkward and rude. Addison had not gotten into much trouble but his son had been miserable. And though Uther didn't want to notice, he had, in fact, noted that Addison was very unhappy as well, had started eating less and barely sung a single song like she used to. And it used to bring him great joy to remind her to stop singing in the morning.

It should have been a happy trade but he didn't want to see his son so crestfallen and loathed that the only way to make his pride and joy happy again was to see to it that he and Addison made it up.

Addison twisted the loops of the silver belt around her fingers as she watched Uther. Arthur stood to the side his arms folded around his chest, his eyes on anything other than Addison. They both were awaiting to hear what Uther wanted with Addison.

He gestured to the bowl of fruit on the table. He had reports from the servants that Addison had barely touched her breakfast this morning, again. "Do you want something? Apple perhaps?" he asked her.

Addison shook her head at him. "No thank you, I'm not hungry."

"But you haven't eaten your breakfast today," Arthur snapped immediately. Ah so he had heard that report as well. Addison shot a surprised look at Arthur, no doubt wonder how he knew that and his son replied with a coloring of his cheeks and looking away from her. He didn't say a single word.

Uther sat down in his throne and shrugged. "If you're not hungry, you're not hungry," he said softly. "What do you know of the druids?"

Addison thought about this carefully. "Are you asking if I'm in league with them?" she wondered and Uther found his eyebrows raising with surprise. Even Arthur seemed distressed by her retort. "Because if you are, I'd have to ask, how do you think I've met these druids?"

Ah here we go. She was doing that thing where she thought he had asked her a stupid question and she was going to respond with a stupid question of her own. He hated it when she did this, and he knew she did it to force him to poke holes into his own theories instead of flat out telling him what he wanted to know. She did it this way because she believed that he wouldn't listen to her unless she made him truly think about his accusations. So, he would humour her today and let her have her questions. Seeing as the girl was practically wasting away in her misery.

"Firstly, I'm not allowed out on my own, and as of late I hadn't been out as all as my benefactor has not seen fit to allow me to roam with an escort of his choosing and I refuse to go out with him," she started. Uther nodded along knowing that she was unaware of the truth. Arthur had been ordering his manservant, Merlin, to escort her around town so she could get her exercise. He had no doubt told Merlin to make sure that Addison had no idea that he had sent Merlin to her. He had made Uther aware of the change so that he wouldn't punish her if he found her outside without Arthur.

"Secondly, how am I meeting with these druids to pass on information or what not? I mean, I'm always under someone's watchful eye, clearly if I were sending secret notes it would have come to your attention by now, no matter how hard I tried at keeping them secretive. I live in a dungeon for god's sake, I'm always surrounded by your loyal guards," she continued. Uther nodded, knowing that when it came to her, his guard's loyalty was questionable. Still he did not speak to argue with her. "And lastly, what am I getting from these druids? Because I wouldn't be doing this for nothing right?"

Yes, what could she get from them, indeed? Let's see if she came to the realization herself.

"Wait, druids do magic, right?" she asked. Uther nodded in confirmation. "Oh? So, they could send me home. OH! So that's why I'd do it. I can see why you think I'm in on it!"

"Addison…" Uther started but Addison was still talking, suddenly too fast to keep up.

"I'm not, you know. In it, with the Druids obviously. I mean, I can see if you think that maybe they brought me here, but I don't think they did, really. Because I'd much rather believe that if they had brought me here, they might have stuck around or tried to send me home. And I know you hate magic, but if it got rid of me, wouldn't it be worth it? Couldn't you look the other way just this once, and maybe trade something with them. You give them some freedom and I get to go home?" she asked.

Uther noted that Arthur had turned him, the fear on his face apparent. As if Uther might consider for even the briefest of moments using any sort of magic to send her anywhere. It amused him that Arthur hadn't realized that it was not an option, he feared that she'd leave, he feared his father would send her away. That fear was his weakness but it was also what made his son happy. Uther couldn't figure out what it was he was going to do about this situation.

"No, Addison," Uther said, but yet that happy smile didn't fade.

"Okay, so how about you just capture a bunch of them and make them send me home!" she cried.

Actually that was right up his alley. Why hadn't he thought of that before? But once again he glanced at his son, the panic clear as day on his face and he realized that sending her home would just lead to Arthur finding a way to chase after her. There was no way that Uther was letting that happen.

"Addison," he roared and finally her happy smile faded. "

"But I could… you could…."

"Magic will not be how you get home," he told her and to the side he watched his son breathe a sigh of relief.

"Then I'm not getting home," she snarled.

"I have brought here, not because I think you're involved with the Druids, but because I think you saw one of them yesterday," he said. "Women are notoriously soft hearted with children, and with one whom you might see as someone like you, you might be a little more inclined to hide him."

Addison blinked her eyes. "Where in my jail cell?"

Uther glared at her. "With one of your friends," he clarified.

Addison sighed deeply before tilting her head to the side and putting her hand out, about hip height. "Little boy, yeah high?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Turquoise cloak?"

"Yes!"

"Black hair, blue eyes?"

"YES!"

Addison straightened and folded her arms over her chest. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"What?" Uther thundered. "You just described him perfectly!"

"Well, yeah, I've had three guards ask me about him, with that description. And, as I told them, I haven't seen him," she said.

Uther frowned at her, certain that it could be true but he wasn't sure he believed her. But what could he do? Addison's loyalty was unwavering. If she knew where that boy was hiding, she was not about to tell him and give up her friends.

"Alright," he said. "You may return to your cell. If you're good I can take you out for a day."

Addison's eyes went wide and she glanced to Arthur. Arthur stepped aside and said quickly: "No, not necessary, father," he said. "You're busy, father, I wouldn't want to take you away from important business after all. No, I'll send someone else for her… if she's good."

Addison bobbed a small curtsy again that Uther noted made his son grimace. "If you're done with me, My Lords," she said with some vehemence in her voice. "May I go back to my cell, I'm tired and I would like to rest if that's possible."

Uther nodded and a guard came and offered her an arm for her to take. "Unless my son would like to escort her back," Uther offered.

It nearly made him laugh, the look of fear on that dawned on both of their faces. Because being alone together was the worst thing that could happen to them.

"That's alright, Father," Arthur said quickly, jumping to their rescue. "I have somewhere to be soon, and I'm sure Addison would like to get back to cell quickly."

Uther waved them away and once the door closed behind him, Arthur bowed a bit before turning to walk away. But Uther wasn't done.

"Just a moment Arthur," he called halting his son before he could get out of the room. "I know that it is none of my business, but I would be lying if I said I hadn't noticed the rift between you two and how it has effected the two of you."

Arthur turned to his father, his cheeks reddening. Uther pointedly busied himself with picking out an apple from the bowl, seeing as he had it brought the bowl in for Addison and she hadn't wanted them. "I would like to know what it is that happened between you."

Arthur, scuffed the toe of his boot against the cobblestone at his feet. "We had an argument," he whispered.

"And you struck her?" Uther whispered. He didn't need to know if it was true, he saw the mark on her face and the guilt in Arthur's eyes whenever he saw it.

"Yes," Arthur replied, the shame clear in his features. "She has made it clear that she doesn't trust me anymore and that she wished for me to leave her alone, so I have done as she asked."

Uther nodded. Yes, that sounded like exactly what Addison would demand if someone had struck her, a friend anyway. Uther had struck her plenty of times, but that was different he was always the villain of the dramas between Addison and Arthur. It was odd not being the one to blame for this particular drama playing out.

"What did you argue about?" Uther asked, knowing that here was nothing he could say to Arthur to soften the guilt that he felt in the wake he had done.

Arthur turned away from his father to say: "Lady Sofia."

Uther let that hang in the air, he let his son leave. He knew that the argument was most likely a lover's spat now. But there was no proof and he didn't want to prove it. But that was something he wasn't certain he could help fix. If he did, that meant he'd have to send Addison away. Couldn't have his son in love with her after all.

No, this particular problem would have to be fixed between the two of them. After all Arthur had been right, he was busy. He had a druid boy hiding in his city that he needed to find.

In two days time, Arthur and Addison were still as miserable as ever. But he had found that druid boy so at least something was going right.