Out of Time

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: God. It took me long enough didn't it? Hot damn. I swear. It's getting harder and harder to write these chapters. I guess cause I'm avoiding the drama that's coming up. I also sort of feel like I've lost my mojo and that everything I'm writing is coming off stiff. I hope it's not reading like that, but I can't help it. Well anyway, I hope this chapter does good and that it reads nicely and that there are still people hear to read it. Only one more and then this episode is closed, you guys get a bonus chapter and then we move onto the next one! EXCITING!

Thanks to: My Spanish Guest for being my 160th Review. Lenekris for being my 250th favourite. Scaraceno for being my 340th Follower.

Shoutouts: GiggleboxGirlie, Padfootette, ForeverteamEdward13, Spanish Guest, The Jingo – The King in White, terrixghost hunt1353, skittlesfreak132, WingedButterfly, ravenclauses, MissChloeSalvatore, PureAngelEyes, lenekris, Angelic demon chick, rakkertje9, music-dot-com, hatedlane2000, CrossoverFreak0628, manypies, gabi4427, S, Perith99, ekg1997, Smileys22, Scaraceno, and Warrior1997.

Chapter 32: Out of Healing

Arthur thought he was sneaking out of the hut, except he clearly didn't because, unbeknownst to him, originally, someone, several someones had followed him out. But it wasn't until he turned around to investigate the strange rustling that seemed to be following him that he found Merlin, Gwen and Morgana had both followed him out of the hut and seemed intent to stealthily follow him. They all had weapons and were crouched low as if they thought he wouldn't spot them.

"No." he snapped before any of them could say anything.

"Yes."

It was a quick come back. And it came from Morgana.

"You can't possibly think that you can go into that forest and face all those bandits on your own."

And that was Gwen, appealing to the more rational side of things.

"Addison is our friend too, you know. We all care about her and want to get her back."

And that was Merlin going straight for the emotional side of things.

Okay, fine. So, they made fair points. For starters Morganna was stubborn, even if there wasn't a logical reason to this she would be coming. Gwen was right, it would be foolish to go at this alone, and Merlin was right, they were all Addison's friends and they would do anything to get her back, hence making them the best people to come with him.

"Alright, but at the first sign of trouble, Merlin, I want you to get the girls safely back to the village," he ordered.

"Merlin, I order you to disregard that order. If there's any sign of trouble neither of you will be able to stop me from charging towards it," Morgana replied with a proud tilt of her chin.

Arthur wanted to argue, but was there really a point? Instead he just shook his head and decided to not rise to the bait.

They walked in hushed whispers after that as Arthur and Morgana argued whether or not it was a good idea for her to go about swinging a sword at trained ruthless bandits. Arthur having decided, afterward take a few steps, that it wouldn't actually do to have Morgana think that she could actually stay and fight if they were to be besieged by bandits during this rescue mission. By the time they got to the edge of the forest, Arthur was about ready to tell Morgana to shut up but he didn't have to. There came a rustling from the trees that silenced them all.

Arthur settled into his battle stance, shifting his weight as whatever was coming towards them got tangled up. From farther in the woods came a bellowing cry, distant and echoing and then something crashed out from behind the bushes.

It was a blue-dress-wearing something, with long black hair being loosely held back and combed with twigs and burrs, but it wasn't facing him. It had erupted from the bushes backwards staring out at where it had come from as if expecting a great monster to have followed it. But it didn't matter.

He'd know this something from 20 paces.

Arthur eased out of his battle stance and dropped his sword to one hand. He put a hand out to her shoulder and said her name.

Addison screamed out a loud: "hi-YAH!" and then grabbed the wrist of the hand on her shoulder and flipped him over. This was a move that Arthur had taught her, but even then, he had not been prepared. Had he been he could have blocked the attack, kept her from flipping him and instead pinned her to his chest. As he wasn't ready, he went flying, head over heels, landing at her feet on his back, sword clattering away from him, yelping as he went.

Addison stepped back from him gasping. "Arthur?" he heard her whisper, or more like whisper shout. "For god's sake! Why the hell would you sneak up on me like that?"

Arthur tried to jump back up to his feet but it was hard now that she had knocked the wind out of him. Still he got himself up trying to rub the kinks out of his back that she surely put into place by slamming him into the ground. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, things he wanted to do. But he couldn't do or say any of the things he wanted to with an audience. Not that he thought any of the people present would saying anything to his father, but he didn't want to put any of them in a position where Uther could torture the information out of them.

"I come out, by myself, to rescue you and you repay me by flipping me?" he snapped instead.

"OI!" Morgana cried. "And what are we? Invisible?"

Arthur chose to ignore her. Addison was staring out into trees as if she expected someone to appear. The fear on her face pierced Arthur's heart, she was back with him but she still didn't feel safe. That was unacceptable.

"Girls, take her back to the hut, make sure she's okay. Give her tea if you can. Merlin and I will make sure the perimeter is secure," he told them. Addison's blue eyes found him, that fear ever so apparent now and his throat clogged with all the unsaid words threatening to tumble out of him.

He forced himself to turn away before he did something they both regretted. "Come on Merlin," he called as he began to walk away.

He half expected Addison to call for him, but she didn't and he was partially glad she hadn't. Merlin was silent as they explored the area.

"How do you think she got away?" Merlin asked breaking the silence.

Arthur frowned. It hadn't occurred to him to ask her, he was just happy that she found her way back to him.

"I honestly don't want to think about it," he muttered.

"Well whatever she did I bet it was spectacular," Merlin said. Arthur didn't even need to look at him to know he was grinning.

What she probably did was magical and so dangerous it made his skin crawl. He knew he'd end up asking her about it even though he was certain it would give him nightmares.

"Wait, what's on your sleeve?" Merlin asked. Arthur turned to him with a confused look on his face. He was point to arm where he saw it was in fact stained. He took a better look at it and recognized the dark sticky substance and the shape it was in.

"Did she hurt you?" Merlin wondered, but Arthur knew he wasn't bleeding.

He extended his arm so Merlin could see that stain was in the form of a perfect handprint. Small and petite. On the arm Addison had grabbed to flip him.

Addison was injured.

If the girls thought it was weird that Addison was panting as if she were out of breath even though they were walking at a snail's pace, they didn't say anything. If they were worried that she couldn't answer their questions about how she got away, they didn't mention either. She did note that they had noticed the grimace on her face as she was walking but neither had asked her about it yet.

They got back to Hunith's hut and the woman looked her over for only three seconds before asking: "Where are you hurt?"

Addison hissed in relief and then glanced around. "No one can tell Arthur," she whispered and then promptly moved her hand away from the side she was cradling.

The dark stain was clear even in the moonlight, blossoming from just above her hip line where they could see the bodice of her dress had been torn. The blood had not just seeped down from where the dress had been torn but up as well, staining both her hands.

By the gasps she heard it had to be bad. By the muttering that followed she understood that both Gwen and Morgana were upset that they hadn't noticed there was something wrong with her. By the looks on their faces she knew that was definitely no way she'd be able to hide this from Arthur.

Refusing to look down at her own injury Addison tried to shrug off everyone's concerns. "It's not that bad, right?" she asked them. "Just a scratch?"

All three women were just staring at her. Spots were forming in front of her vision. She was tired so very, very tried. She tried to walk forward but her feet got tangled up, in what she didn't know. She dropped like a rock right into Hunith's arms. She heard the commotion of girls clamouring to help Hunith get her to a standing position.

"We'll need to look at it. Determine whether or not we need to stitch it," Hunith whispered.

Addison shook her head. "Nope. Nope. No more stitches," she said trying to throw them off. But they wouldn't let her go. Tears spilled down her cheeks, she knew they only wanted to help her, but she really, really didn't want stitches again.

There was nothing Addison could do except let them drag her inside.

Arthur heard the screaming before the hut even came into view. When he got to the hut it had quieted down but Morgana had stopped him from going in. This was a girl's thing, she had told him. Arthur told her to go make love to herself and then tried to break in only to have both Merlin and Morgana jump on him. Morgana from the front and Merlin from that back and Arthur found himself on the ground. He agreed to stay outside only to get them off of him and then he sulked until he was called inside.

Addison was asleep by then, which meant he couldn't ask her if she were alright. Though judging by the screaming and whimpering he had heard, she was not. Hunith had let him know of the damage. A laceration in her side that hadn't been too deep, but deep enough. The wound had been stitched by Hunith and then cauterized by Gwen, the latter being when Addison passed out. They couldn't determine what had caused the damage and Addison hadn't been up to answering their questions. Though to be honest, they had all sort of stopped asking her once they established she was bleeding heavily and would need first aid and she was fighting them on getting that first aid.

He was supposed to allow Addison to sleep. He knew this. He wanted to do this. But he found himself hovering over her, watching her, every exhale, every inhale, and every motion on her face. The furrow of her brow, the twitch of her eyelids, and the soft parting of her lips. If he were back home she'd be in her own room, and he'd be with her. No matter what anyone said. He'd be in her bed. Holding her. Feeling her heart beat against his chest so he knew for absolute certain that she was alive.

He wanted to do that now. But he couldn't. Not with an audience sleeping just across from them.

But then her eyes open. Silvers of light blue glimmering in the darkness. She found him standing over her but she wasn't afraid of him. A smile donned on her lips and a hand came out from under the scratchy blankets they had all piled onto her and reached out for him.

There was no thought, no doubts, no second guessing. He slipped in under the blankets with her without hesitation. He wrapped his arms carefully around her, being sure not to jostle her. He let her turn her back to him so she was off her injured side and then he held her. His nose pressed in her neck taking in her scent, sweet with a hint of smoky notes that weren't there before.

He tried not to think of what could have happened to her to have sustained this injury. He tried not to think about whether or not Kanen had touched her. He was thankful she was alive. He was thankful she had found a way back to them.

And within seconds Arthur was asleep. He lost himself in the warmth of her body, in the smell of her skin and in that moment the worries of his world disappeared.

Addison sat on the small bed. Saying she was antsy was an understatement.

"You can't keep me inside forever," she snarled as she pushed her half eaten breakfast away from her. "And I'm not hungry, I swear."

Arthur glared down at her. Taking the bowl and offering her the spoon. "One more spoonful," he bargained.

"Seriously Arthur, you've been force feeding me for days —" "—One day," "I seriously can't eat anymore. I swear."

"One more bite and I'll let you watch the practice today," Arthur replied.

Begrudgingly Addison took the mouthful and Arthur ate the rest. Gwen had lectured him about how rude it was to not eat the food these people were offering him because this was literally all they had. He had not thought of it that way, but since then he had been finishing all of his meals no matter how tasteless and nasty they were.

He put the bowl down beside her and then took a deep breath, stealing himself for another argument.

"You're not coming today."

"What?!" Addison screeched. "But you said—!"

"I lied." He said it so matter-o-factly that for a moment she was just stunned silent by his answer. So he stood there glaring down at her, his hands on his hips waiting for her to catch up. "The fact of the matter is two nights ago you got hit by an arrow," "—It grazed me at best," "And you are not well yet."

"Vicious lies," Addison growled.

"Regardless, I am not willing to take that chance," he replied crossing his arms over his chest.

"This is as bad as being locked up in my cell," she growled all the while frowning at him.

Arthur winced at that. That was a low blow even for her, but she showed no sign of relenting or taking it back. The tale of her escape was harrowing and filled with lucky moments, including the one where the bolt of a crossbow narrowly missed piercing her side. He had waking nightmares about it, about what could have happened if she didn't have a lucky streak.

"Addison, Kanen could be here at any moment," he reminded her. "Those mushrooms you slipped him and his men should have worn off by now. He'll be angry, and if he catches you…"

He let the threat hang there. Addison avoided his eyes. "I want to be with you when he comes," she whispered in a small voice and Arthur iron will and heart of stone melted. She just wanted to be safe. With him. And if he was going to be candid, that was the safest place for her to be.

"Fine, you can come with me. But, by god Addison, if you wander off or get yourself into even the slightest lick of trouble I will lock you in the hut myself!" he warned pointing a stern finger into her face. God, he sounded just like his father.

Addison was beaming, the grin just about to jump off her face. She launched up and hugged up thanking him profusely and promising to be good. Arthur stood still, his arms around her, his cheek resting against the top of her head. His heart was beating wildly in his chest. The desire to kiss her, to plunder her mouth until they were both breathless and panting for more, was stronger than it ever. But Merlin and his mother were just outside with Gwen and Morgana so he knew he couldn't. No matter how much he wanted to.

Morgana had been the one to find Addison wrapped up in his arms that morning, she had been the one to wake him up and separate them before the others woke up. And she had been grinning at him, this smug grin, since then. He literally could not get it off of her face. The others were going to noticed that something was up soon if she didn't stop but she didn't seem to care. She was going to tease him forever, she had vowed, but he knew she'd never tell Uther. The insistent teasing and knowing look on her face whenever he and Addison were together was rubbing him the wrong way though.

When they left the hut, he ignored the look that Morgana pinned on him, he merely turned away and led Addison to where the villagers were waiting. Morgana and Gwen were to go about trying to make more weapons for them and he and Merlin were training the men. They needed to be ready for when Kanen decided to return, though he was hoping that the reason he was so delayed was because Addison had killed him and his men with her mushroom stunt.

They had a plan in place for when he did come, the only plan that would save them as they couldn't win in an outright fight, but that didn't mean that Arthur was going to let them slack. These men had to practice and this extra few days of practice had been a godsend.

So when he got to the square the men were waiting, Addison was sitting on a bale of hale, her feet tucked under the hem of her dress as she sat cross legged. He tried not to look at her, but he couldn't help it. She looked so beautiful sitting there twining her hair in a complicated braid and talking to the children and women who came over to her.

Of course the one moment he took his eyes off her was the moment that chaos descended.

Kanen and his men were seen riding towards the village, making for the small foot bridge over the water. People were scrambling, they weren't ready to enact the plan. The men were fumbling with their weapons and struggling to get into formation.

Arthur couldn't find Addison. He hoped she had gone somewhere to hide but he knew she wouldn't have. He also didn't want to face a horde of horseback men by himself but it was starting to look like he was going to have to. Until the scream hit the air.

It wasn't a human scream, but a horse's. Arthur had time to clear the huts to see what had startled Kanen's horse, forcing it to rear up and nervously pace backwards.

The men were all stopped dead in their tracks. Addison was before the bridge, arms out to the side. In the middle of the bridge rose a giant spike of ice. It had shattered the boards of the bridge and had clearly been what had spooked the horse.

Addison was singing.

All the shine of a thousand spotlights; All the stars we steal from the night sky; Will never be enough; Never be enough. Towers of gold are still too little; These hands could hold the world but it'll; Never be enough;Never be enough! For Me!

With each motion of her hands, with each rising crescendo and high note the water in the stream began to ebb. Until suddenly it rushed up, solidifying immediately into ice. A towering wall of ice now stood between Kanen and his men, with no way to cross but to go through the woods and come back around.

Her song finished and she collapsed. Arthur rushed to her side immediately but didn't stoop down to help her. He stood behind her instead, letting her brace herself on his legs and he stared down Kanen through the ice.

"We'll see tomorrow who wins. A tired witch or Albion Steel," Kanen called and then he and his men spurred their horses onwards and back into the trees.

Once he was certain they were gone he pulled Addison up. Her eyes were glazed, her stare dazed and she could barely stand on her own two feet. He handed her over to Merlin with explicit orders to take care of her. And then turned to the men.

"You heard him, tomorrow he and his men will come and we cannot rely on trickery to save us," he announced. "We will go forward with the plan. Get everything ready and get a good rest."

There was a murmuring from the crowd in front of him but they ultimately obeyed. Each returning to their huts. Arthur shot a glance at the ice behind him before squaring his shoulders and heading towards what he knew would be the worst argument he'd have with the girl he was in love with.

*Some reference to smut in this part, avoid it if you don't want to read that*

Addison wasn't sure what happened after she conjured up that wall of ice, but she knew she had reopened her wound. She wasn't sure how she got back to Hunith's hut when she couldn't remember walking there, but she knew by how tired she was had something to do with the amount of magic she used. She also had a feeling that Arthur was going to loose his damn mind.

So when he finally barged into the hut, while she was in a state of undress attempting to re-wrap up her injury she knew it was because he was angry with her. However, seeing her chest bared and the gauze in her hands he froze. His clear blue eyes were unwavering as he scanned the profile of her body. It took a moment but once he realized what he was doing he quickly stormed right back out.

Addison knew she wasn't imagining the look of pure lust on his face at the sight of her and while she should have been worried she couldn't help but grin.

Arthur still wanted her after all. She had been starting to wonder.

She quickly finished wrapping herself up, tugged her dress back up and slipped her arms back into their sleeves. She only had to call out Arthur's name and he was back in the hut with her.

"Can you tie up my laces at the back?" she asked innocently and then turned, baring her back to him.

She tried not to quiver as she felt his finger brush against her skin. He was reaching for the laces to tie them for her, but his fingers were tracing patterns along her back as he did so.

"What you did was completely reckless," he growled. Addison sighed and rolled her eyes and Arthur rewarded her by jerking on her laces. "Addison, your power levels are increasing. That is not normal. You shouldn't be this strong. And the effort you put in hurt you further. I'm worried about you."

"I'm not sure what's going on Arthur. But all I was thinking about was saving those people, and you," she admitted. Arthur's fingers stilled and then came to rest on her shoulders. He pressed his chest to her back.

"You're concern should never be to save me," he whispered into her ear.

"It will always be my concern, just like you worry about my wellbeing," she reminded him. "We can argue about this until the day we die, but you cannot stop me from trying to help you any more than I could stop you from protecting me."

She turned to face him, tilting her eyes up to meet his. The fear she saw there was heart wrenching. She put a hand to his cheek and his eyes closed.

"Instead of arguing, why don't we just agree to save each other? I'll watch your back, and you can watch mine?" she asked. She pressed the softest of kisses to his lower lip and suddenly she was tightly enwoven in his arms.

His mouth came down on hers, hot and hungry. He kissed her as if she was his last breath of air.

"Promise me you won't put yourself at risk tomorrow," he whispered huskily against her lips. "I'd be a fool to try and keep you from it, but please, don't run yourself ragged, don't leave yourself open to attack."

"I'll try," she breathed against his skin. Then before he could do or say anything else Addison kissed him hard. "But right now, I need you."

He stopped kissing her then. His eye boring into her. She didn't know how to tell him any other way but the way she had said it right then. She was worried that he'd say no, he had been so damn proper with her since this started.

He gave her no answer, but began to kiss her fervently, his hands quickly finding her hips and picking her up. He put her on the table, while she put her hands under his shirt. She knew what this would be, how a quickie worked, but she knew he didn't. She'd have to show him.

He was a quick learner. And as her skirt was hastily pushed up and their bodies came together, she was reminded that there wasn't a single thing she wouldn't do to save Arthur. And no matter what she said, she wasn't certain she could let him go to marry his destined queen when she had to.

But right now, there was just them and that moment. And tomorrow's looming battle was momentarily forgotten.