Out of Time

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: Hey guys! It's been a long time huh? Oh gosh! I'm so sorry. I wish I had a good excuse but I don't. All I've got is writer's block. I'm trying to get chapter 27 done, I'm also trying to get your Christmas present ready too. I'm hoping to get at least one chapter up (not including your bonus Christmas chapter) this month, but I also have exams to study for. Don't be too mad! I promise to work on the chapter! Hope you don't mind this little bonus one. This is the story about what Addison got up to those two days she was off at that Convent (Mentioned in Chapter 22). Please enjoy!

Thanks to: cutiepie102 for being my 170th favourite and micky1514 for being my 230th follower.

Shout outs: unknown-tessa, Guest (Sarah), JessieMay7, Skylar Kitten, Twylaheart, MONICA SENJU, xxKissDaxx, okaloosa, Canadian shorebird, tarebear827, cutiepie102, sci. fi. geek. fantastic , needsmoreglitter, micky1514, Niklaus. Elijah. Damon .Kol , Andysteve1311, Momochan77, Savage Kill, Guest (1234), Lissa powers, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, and Goddess of magic.

Out of Order: Flash back #2 - Addison's Time in the convent

It took twelve hours to get to the little convent on the coast. Granted three hours out of Camelot the guards in charge of transporting her had decided the cruel cage was not a humane way of travel and pulled her out of it. She was to be tied to one of them at all times and got to ride on the back of one of their horses. She thought maybe they would just let her go on the road or she would find some way to escape but still she ended up at Tintagel looking upon a craggy looking church like building with rounded crumbling walls and a blackened desolate look about it.

"Oh My God, he fucking sent me to a misty Transylvania!" Addison cried. "You guys can't leave me here, I'm going to get attacked by Dracula!"

The Guard's men exchanged glances. "We are so sorry, My Lady, but Uther has given us strict orders…"

"And us a large donation!" A plump looking Holy man, flanked by whom she could only assume was the Abbess of this place came down the practically disintegrating stairs to greet them. Their hands outstretched to take the sack of gold the Guards had to offer.

Addison glared them. Great. All they cared about was money. This was not going to be a fun experience. She turned back to the guards who were handing her a small bag that carried what belongings she was allowed to bring.

"Can you tell Arthur that it's nice place, that it looks like I'll be comfortable here and at least slightly happy?" she asked.

The Guards men looked uncomfortable, being asked to lie so blatantly to the Crown Prince. Not exactly something they wanted to do, if he found out they were lying he'd flog them for sure. But telling him otherwise, when he asked upon their return, would send him in a rage and that wouldn't be good for anyone.

The Abbess reached out and snatched her sack of belongings right out of her hands. "Now deary, you won't be needing these here," she said. She put a hand out to pet her hair. "And you won't be needing this long tempting hair."

Addison swatted her hands away and glared at her. "Listen here you daft cunt!" she growled pointing a slim finger in the Abbess' round face. "If you so much as suggest trimming my hair I will find you and smother you in your sleep!"

The Abbess stared at her with eyes wide with horror while the Father just laughed. "You can tell the King that we'll be flogging that attitude right out of her."

The lead Guard scowled. "She is a ward of the prince. If you lay a hand on her it will be Arthur you deal with."

"Arthur is not King," The Father reminded him.

"No, but he will be one day," Addison shot back. "Don't expect any donations from him if I let it slip you're a bunch of women beaters."

"And not even Uther can stop him from avenging Addison's honour. You better hope that Arthur doesn't find cause to ride down here himself, and if he does, she better be in tip-top shape," Another guard warned.

"That is quite enough the lot of you, no wonder she is the way she is, with everyone allowing her to behave in such a manner in fear of a Prince who clearly has no say in matters regarding her," the Abbess said stiffly.

The two exchanged worried glances and Addison tried to hold her head high though the tears that she hadn't wanted to shed seemed to threaten to let loose a tide. She needed to be strong and brave, she had a plan forming and she would need all her wits about her. She didn't have Merlin to super charge her anymore, she'd have to use her magic sparingly.

She would get out of this, if it was the last thing she did.

They had taken her things and hidden them, probably planned to sell them. Addison assumed that Uther had sent her here to get tutelage on being a proper lady, as it was always what he threatened. And though he was mightily mad at her when he sent her way, he did stress that he paid them well to treat her right.

Well these people were not going to get a five star review from her.

The very first thing they did was make her change into a plain uniform like dress. Which would have been fine if it weren't so thin and wispy and the place so cold. She had asked for one of her blankets or sweaters but apparently it was a carnal sin to want worldly possessions to keep you warm. Like God's love was supposed to be enough. The second thing they did was attempt to cut her hair, Addison had nearly stabbed the Abbess with the scissors and that had been enough of that. They decided Addison could keep the hair but she would have to give up something else instead. Addison wasn't sure what else they expected her to have that they could take from her.

She was not allowed to eat.

They fucking took away her food. This place was worse than a prison cell! At least in jail she would get a meal and a blanket.

They informed her that Church was an three times a day thing and then promptly dragged her and all the others out of the convent. A small chapel was attached the drafty building lit with the light of a million candles. Addison took this time to assess her situation, and to get a better look at her captors.

They were both pretty fat for people who lived in such a dump. To Addison that meant that they were probably a lot better fed then the girls they had here. Probably living very high starving the girls and taking the money and belongings they came with and selling them. The Abbess had a mean glare about her, her features scrunched up and wrinkly because of it. She wore a dark brown habit and covered her hair. The Father also wore brown and while his face was round it didn't really have any wrinkles that she could see. He seemed almost jolly except she knew that greed had a hold of his mind and heart.

Addison knew, if she somehow got word to Arthur that she was being mistreated, he would ride out there himself to come get her. And there would be hell to pay for the mistreatment. Problem was it would take two to four days to get word to him and then a couple of days to get out of Uther's watchful eye and a day of hard riding to get to her. She didn't have that much time, at this rate she'd be dead of starvation or cold.

Addison went through the motions of the mass. Listened to the Father preach about carnal sins and how all of them were there to be purified. Addison wanted nothing more than to storm out but she didn't. She didn't want to cause any more trouble with these people.

By dinner, after making a grand total of four different rosaries she was rewarded with a meal that look as if it were gruel that had gone rotten. She forced herself to eat it, and ended up throwing it up during the following study hall. The Abbess, who had been teaching them how to make candles at the time, was furious. How dare she spurn the meal they slaved to make for her? As if Addison was doing it to be rude.

She was put in solitary confinement to think about the wasting of food and how evil she had been. And Addison found herself sobbing again. The little cupboard she had been locked it was horrible. But at least it had a bit of a window.

And that was when the plan began to form in her mind.

The Abbess came to get her for the midnight mass. Addison's stomach was growling but she didn't care about the food. She knew whatever they gave her next would just make her vomit again. She took Addison to get herself cleaned up throwing her into the small room that would be hers and shared with three other girls. She was to change, wash the dust from her face, and then come out promptly.

It had only been half a day, but Addison had yet to be taught a single thing about being a proper lady. All they had done, so far, was practicing making rosaries, which Addison already knew how to make from her stint in Catholic School when she was younger.

Addison sat down on the bed and waited until the Abbess got impatient and stormed into the room, demanding that she come down for mass as she had already made them late.

"I don't believe in God," she said with a disdainful sniff with the Abbess asked what this was all about. "And I refuse to worship in his house of lies!"

A gasp came out of the Abbess who immediately started shouting. Addison stood tall and proud and when the Abbess realized she couldn't reason with her Addison was thrown back into that small space they called a cupboard. Coincidentally, the exact place she wanted to be.

It took a few tries, but once Addison got it down, she scaled the wall up to the window, and then it took some wiggling but she managed to get through it, mainly because the bricks were coming apart from the cement.

The first thing she did was steal into the kitchen. She forced herself to stay calm, to nibble on a bit of bread instead of gorging herself and making herself sick all over again. Once that was done, she packed some vegetables and some more bread into a bag she found lying about, before grabbing a jug of mead, which she did not like but had no other option as they did not have any cider.

The second thing she did was go looking for her possessions. But no matter where she looked she couldn't find the blanket or the dresses or the other finery she was brought with, all she could find was the book she had been reading that Uther had allowed to be packed for her. Still she shoved that into the bag and then immediately left the building disappearing off into the night.

The Abbess had had plenty of young women in her care attempt to run away, but none had ever actually succeeded. This was something she had boasted about on several occasions to these high paying lords and ladies who wanted to whip some sense into their girls. And yet here she was, made a fool of by this whelp of a girl. A pure demon from hell itself who managed to wriggle out of a small cupboard like a snake.

And what was she going to tell Uther? If the girl returned would he be mad she escaped or mad at her treatment? The guards had seemed genuine about their concern for Arthur's reaction to any kind of mistreatment for the girl, and while Uther made the decisions surely if Arthur was cross Uther would back his son and heir? She would have to come up with some convincing reason. She would have to write to Uther, explain that his ward was possessed and that she was needed back at Tintagel straight away and when she was returned to their "loving" care, she would restrain the girl properly and beat the stubborn pride out of her.

And boy would she have fun breaking the spirit out of that girl.

To put on a brave face she forced the girls to wake up early and go to church. She would whip all of them to punish them, so that they wouldn't get any ideas about leaving. She and the girls headed out of the main building to the chapel only to have the Father come sprinting out of the chapel screaming bloody murder about demons and witches followed by a soft pop ad then flames were pouring out of the building.

The girls were screaming, the Father was running around trying to put the back of his robes out and fron the smoke emerged a figure.

It was Addison, the fire licking around her but not touching her, her hair fanning out around her in a witchy way as if a protective wind had wrapped around her. Her hands were to her eyes, the back of her hands facing her face on her palms were carved with a bloody pair of eyes. One for each palm.

And she was singing.

Your eyes, your eyes, I can see in your eyes, your eyes.

The Abbess screamed then missing everything else that the girl was singing. When she stopped Addison removed her hands showing her eyes had gone black and were leaking blood.

Everything you love will burn up in the light. And every time I look inside your eyes; you make me wanna die.

The fire exploded hitting the main building, it too catching fire, odd for a damp drafty castle made entirely of stone, and Addison was lost in the rage of it all. The Abbess fled leaving her girls to fend for themselves, leaving the Father to rot in hell for all she cared, and leaving the demon behind.

Addison hadn't gone far before she realized that she could leave the other girls in their care. She had easily snuck back and then climbed into the rafters of the chapel to wait for the perfect time to start her secondary plan. A splash of red wine and mushed up berries had done the blood trick again and her rage helped her channel the fire. Within moments she had the fire worked up into an inferno and by the time she came out of her magically induced rage the building had been hollowed out and she had been left alone in the smoldering ash.

Her hands hurt, she realized, upon waking up. A quick investigation showed it to be from splinters that she must have gotten scaling the rafters and climbing back down. She was all alone, the only living thing left at Tintagel, and the silence weighing down on her was practically suffocating her.

She missed Arthur.

She wanted to return, she wanted to see him, but Uther had sent her away. Would he send her back if she returned to Camelot? Could she go back to the Apple Isle and hide there for a bit?

Either way she would have to return to Camelot.

So that settled it. Addison was going to go back to Camelot, and she wasn't going to stop until she got there.

It had been a long time since Addison had had to hike. She had trained for a triathlon once, only to decide she liked sleeping, coffee and fast food a lot more than the thought of the accomplishment of completing such a feet. So maybe three hours into her slow walk, Addison was tired, hungry and thirsty. She had also come across a small village. She was shivering against herself, her arms wrapped around her trying to keep herself warm as the dress she was in was as thin as a shift.

She took one step into the village only to be spotted by a woman, probably no older than Addison herself but the hard work and stress of living in a village this far from the castle must have aged her horribly. She gasped and Addison took a step back.

She must have looked a horrible wreck, covered in soot and ash, hair straggly and blowing in the wind, hands wrapped up crudely and in an unacceptable dress. She took a deep and shaky breath as she stared down this woman.

"I… I was in the fire…."

"At Tintagel?" the woman asked and Addison nodded.

"Oh honey!" she cried rushing forward. "The others are here too, they said that there were a demon loose in those fires, you're lucky to be alive."

Addison nodded and tried to avoid her eyes. She was the demon, she knew that. "My hands hurt," she whispered, hoping that would take her away from the others from Tintagel who had made it here.

"Come now, I'll take you to old Drassila, she's our healer," she said. Addison mumbled her thanks and hoped to god she wouldn't spot anyone else in this village.

Drassila and her daughter had given Addison the best day of that week. They had bathed her, did their best to clean her hands and wrap them up and had given her a nice and warm dress.

Addison was all smiles as the two women set out food for her to eat. She didn't even care that it was just plain beef stew with one measly carrot floating in it. She gobbled it all up, it instantly warmed her and made her feel better. In return she handed them out the bread she had stolen.

"I must say, you are much nicer than the other girls," her daughter said tearing off a hunk of the loaf and handing it to her mother. "All of them have been complaining about the accommodations and the food and how far a walk it will be to get home. You've nary complained a bit."

"I'm grateful," Addison said softly. "You've given me so much. I don't know how I could repay you."

Drassila opened her mouth to say something only to have the door to her small cottage thrown open and the Abbess bearing down on her. "They say you have one of our girls, don't think you can try and help that girl get home to her mama and papa. Once they get my letter they'll send us the resources to get the school started again. Now where is that ungrateful little…."

She turned to find Addison standing across from her. She went pale white and shrunk back from her. Addison narrowed her eyes and whispered: "Witch?" to finish the Abbess' sentence.

The Abbess let out a soft yelp and took a step back. "Are you going to write to Uther as well? Are you going to tell him what I did? Demand money? Maybe, if I make it back there, he'll send me back to you."

Addison was putting the last of her magic into levitating whatever she could in the room. The table, chairs, all the bowls and mugs were floating. The rug was off the floor, the cauldron off the fire, bottles of herbs and potions were flying about.

The Abbess shrieked in terror as Addison reached a hand out for her, and swatted her away. "I'll never take you back you DEMON!" she cried. "Uther could offer me the treasure of a thousand kingdoms but you will never be welcomed!"

She fled the cottage and as soon as she was gone Addison collapsed to her knees, bone tired and out of magic. Drassila and her daughter fled as well, the cries of Witch following them. Addison stayed on the floor. It would be a while before someone would dare to come for her, so she caught her breath. She would have to leave soon.

So she packed up her bag with what was left of her bread, her book and the rest of the mead and when she was ready to left the town, slipping out into the afternoon mist, determined to make it back to Camelot by the next morning.

Addison had walked all night, gotten a ride on the back of a dusty moldy caravan and then walked some more. By day break she could see Camelot's tall spires and even though she was dead tired she found herself hurrying towards the castle.

She made it through the village, she heard surprised cries of her name but nothing stopped her. She got to the front entrance of the Castle and then she got stopped.

One of the guards had her by the arm. "Addison! Prince Arthur is on his way to go get you," he told her with an urgent sort of tone.

Addison wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh Gosh, I missed you guys!" she said. "Don't worry, it'll take him pure hours to get him ready, let me go see Uther and then I'll find him."

She thrust her back into his arms and then rushed into the castle. There were more cries of her name, obviously a lot of people were excited to have her back after what must have been a short absence. She threw the doors open to Uther's room and rushed him.

She hugged him tightly before he could complain about it. "I've missed you!"

"What?" he cried, though he hugged her back. "How did you…"

Addison cut him off, straightening and waving him off. "Oh! I set the place on fire and they kind of just ran off, so I came home… I mean back," she said. She scuffed her feet against the floor and lowered her eyes, hiding her hands behind her back. "For a place that was so damp the fire sure did go up quick. I didn't really think that it would. Anyway the Abbess called me a demon and said that there wasn't enough money in the kingdom to keep me and the place was completely hollowed out, which makes o sense cause it's mostly stone but yeah…"

To alleviate the pressure of the situation Addison looked around the room. Uther was silent, and she didn't know what. Okay, that wasn't true, she knew why but she didn't want him to send her away again. She rushed over to Gaius and hugged him quickly. She'd have to make a mad dash for the door.

"Where's this new Court Physician?" she asked suddenly. Because wasn't he the one who got her kicked out and Gaius fired? Only not fired because he was still there. "I'm going to beat his scrawny ass!"

She was walking away, she noted a look of panic in Uther's eyes "I'll find him myself, he can't hide forever. I'm going to go tell Arthur I'm back, get myself cleaned and checked out… pretty sure I got some minor burns and festering splinters and then I'll let myself back into my cell," she said, already heading for the door. "I trust my stuff is still there?"

She turned and ran before Uther could say anything, only one thing on her mind, finding Arthur. She needed to find him anyway, so he didn't ride off to Tintagel find it hollowed out and worry that something had happened to her. So she ran back out of the castle stopping only to tell the guard who had her stuff to send it down to her cell.

She went to the stables first, his horse was still there, ready to go with the saddlebags packed and left beside the stall. So he was ready to go, but he hadn't left yet. If she had to guess he had gone out to do his duties before coming to find her. Probably to appease Uther. He was most likely doing rounds, very agitatedly at that.

She rushed out of the stables and into the lower city. She rushed through the winding streets looking for any glimpse of red and blonde and after a few minutes of searching she found him.

"Arthur!" she called, as loudly as she could, only to realize that her voice felt a little hoarse. And all of sudden she felt other symptoms creeping in past her adrenaline rush. The sting in her hands, the burn of her muscles, the heavy, hot, thickness in her throat that was making her want to swallow over and over again.

Arthur didn't turn around. Despite her tiredness Addison forced herself to push her way through the early morning crowd as quickly as she possibly could. Arthur was in his prime, fully healthy and completely determined to get to his rounds done as quickly as possible, so she couldn't catch up.

"Arthur! Wait up!" she cried, hearing her voice crack but it was finally loud enough for Arthur to hear. Arthur turned, his blue eyes narrowing at her momentarily before the relief broke free on his face.

His eyes widened first with recognition and then a smile crept onto his lips and just kept growing until it was a wicked grin. By then Arthur was rushing towards her, sweeping aside anyone who got in his way. When he got to her, his hands snatched her up and spun her around in the air, like in one of the old Disney movies, as if she were the lightest thing in the world and she couldn't help but shriek and laugh with joy. As soon as her feet were down on the ground again he gripped her in a tight hung and Addison all but melted into it.

"I was coming to get you," he whispered breathlessly. She could feel a slight tremble to him but she didn't know if that was her shaking or he.

She smiled into his shoulder and said: "Well, you took too long, so I saved myself."

After a moment he separated from her, his hands still on her shoulder, her hands gripping his forearms tightly. He looked her up and down, his eyes crinkling with worry about the state she was in. She glanced down at herself and sighed. Well she definitely looked worse for wear.

"Come let's get you cleaned up and have Gaius look you over, then you can tell me all about the ordeal," he said.

There was a secret to the smile on his face, one that spoke of a different kind of plan in his mind. It looked an awful lot like all Arthur wanted to do was smother her with kisses when he got her somewhere alone. And she knew, after everything she just went through, she would welcome that with open arms.