Out of Time

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: So, this is the last of the alternate versions, and if you're still confused this would be the rewritten version of chapter 16. How did everyone like this little deviation from the regular episodes? Not too bad right? So I know I already told you guys this, but the next chapters are what I call the Beginning of the End. That's right. The End Game is coming up. Not in the sense that the story is going to end soon, just that things are going to get a might bit more complicated from here on in. This last little bit is going to be sad, but it at no point means that things are ending or over between the two of them. Just keep in mind that when this fanfiction ends I will be leaving it with a happy ending for everyone, which includes Addison and Arthur, it will just take a while to get to that part. So hopefully you guys can bear with me! Don't forget to leave a review and I'll see you guys next Thursday.

Shoutouts: Like-a-Slasher-Film (I sent you a PM, please respond) Guest, Shay Elle, lilnes, and TheGrandTootah.

Out of Order: Rewritten #2

Things were not going well in the Camelot Castle. Merlin's brow was on fire and nothing seemed to be making him better. Morgana had given Gwen leave to take care of him, and she had not left his side since.

Between her and Gaius they were doing the best they could to keep Merlin comfortable and cool but they had run into several problems.

First, he started talking to himself in his delirium. Starting with just calling Arthur's name, trying to warn him of a trap of some sort. But then he started talking nonsense. Babbling incoherently in his troubled feverish sleep.

"What language is that?" she asked him.

"None. The fever is taking hold, none of those words are his own," he said quickly so she'd leave it alone. Merlin shifted in the bed, and continued to babble those nonsense words.

"The fever's getting worse, isn't it?" Gwen asked, hoping that delirious nonsense talk was maybe a sign that he was getting better.

"The poison's setting in," he said and Gwen frowned, she knew it was coming but it still hurt her to hear it. As if on cure the feverish nonsense began to fall from his lips again. Gwen went for his hand as Gaius went to dab his brow with the cool cloth once more.

Gaius, however, knew immediately what it was that Merlin was doing. He was incanting a spell, luckily nothing had taken hold in front of Gwen yet but it was only a matter of time. He was just hoping that she would think him rambling.

"Could you fetch me some more wolfsbane?" he asked her and she got up immediately. God, he wished he could shake Merlin awake and force him to shut up. Yes he was poisoned and dying but if he Uther found out that he was a warlock on top of everything else, he'd hasten Merlin's death.

He held onto Merlin's hand and willed the boy to get better, asking the old gods to take the poison and inflict it onto him. But as he held his hand he noticed something, a strange bumpiness against his skin that shouldn't be there.

He peeled Merlin's shirt sleeve down to reveal a circular rash. Gwen returned with the wolfsbane and took in the sight of the rash.

"What is that?"

"That can't be right," Gaius mused, because it couldn't be. He had poured over that book after Arthur had left, had memorized everything there was to know about the stages of this poison he couldn't be wrong. Could he? "The rash is not supposed to appear until the final stage."

"What does that mean?" Gwen asked. It was a good question, Gaius didn't know, so he went back to the book. There must have been something he missed.

"It says here that once a rash appears, death will follow within two days."

"You said he had four days," Gwen reminded him. It was what he told Arthur after all. IT was the deadline Arthur was working with.

"Something's increased the flower's potency." He then flipped the pages over to find the second that he needed to read before putting his magnifying glass up to the page. Damn his old eyes, oh what he'd give to be young again. "It warns that the effect of the Mortaeus will be more rapid if an enchantment is used during the flower's preparation."

"Enchantment? But Bayard's no sorcerer."

Also true. Probably. "No, he isn't."

"Then who did this?" Gwen asked and Gaius paused. That was a very good question.

Gaius thought long and hard about it and then a sudden thought popped into his mind but… "It can't have been," he whispered mostly to himself. "She wouldn't dare come here." He then turned back to Gwen. "Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"What happened to that girl?"

"Which girl?"

The girl. The servant girl who had bumped into Merlin he should have known that something was up when she paid him too much attention.

"Just before Merlin burst into the hall, one of Bayard's serving girls took him outside."

"She had dark hair. Very beautiful." She said that almost bitterly. Yes she was pretty but what had happened to her?

"Find her, quickly!" he urged and Gwen ran out of his chambers to do just that.

But when Gwen came back saying that the woman they saw Merlin talking to before he started screaming about poisoned cups was not incarcerated with Bayard and the rest of the men he had come with, Gaius knew. He knew then and there who had done this and she had more than dared to come back to Camelot.

Arthur had let Kara light the torch and hold it as he was too busy carrying Addison. They walked together through many a tunnel until they came upon a great cavern. She lead him out into and then pointed to a little hedge of flowers growing on the cavern walls.

"There they are."

And, yes, they were. Across a giant chasm. Wasn't that just the way?

He purposed put Addison down as far away from where the edge gave way and as far away from Kara as he could get her. He didn't know what that feeling was, but he had the strangest of inklings that Kara might have been behind Addison's collapse. He had no proof, Kara hadn't done anything to make him feel that way, but as he walked with Addison he just got a feeling of apprehension directed in Kara's direction and in turn that made him a little more wary of her.

There was a precipice, this narrow jutting sort of walk way that, if he got close enough to the edge without it giving way he might be able to get a hold of those flowers safely.

But he was just out on the precipice, literally only one foot on it and he could hear rocks giving way underneath and tumbling into the cavern below. Well damn, this wasn't a very sturdy precipice at all.

And for some reason Kara was practically breathing down his neck she was so close to him.

So he turned to her and said: "Keep away from the edge. Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon."

Which was code for: calm down and get the hell away from me. But the second he actually stepped out onto the precipice Kara started chanting.

Well shit. "What are you doing?" he asked her but he had a feeling he knew exactly what she was doing.

The girl was a witch and judging by the way the ground was shaking beneath his feet she definitely wasn't trying to help him.

He had no choice, it was either fall to his death or jump, so he leapt across the chasm, his fingers finding purchase on a ledge, thank god. She watched him hang there a look of almost pity on her face.

"I expected so much more," she taunted and Arthur scowled to himself. Yeah, well he expected her to be a damsel in distress not a witch in disguise so they were both set to be disappointed.

"Who are you?!" he cried to her and she answered by lowering her hood as if catching a good glimpse of her face would answer the question. If he didn't recognize her in the forest he wasn't going to have some epiphany now.

"The last face you'll ever see."

Oh cause that was better. Beside him came a sort of hissing rattle and a goddamn spider the size of a house cat crawled out of a crevice in the rock. Oh fuck him.

"It seems we have a visitor."

No shit, honey. Arthur struggled to climb his way along the edge, but he was slow and clunky in his armour and the spider was quicker. He had no choice but to drop his grip with one hand and reach for his sword. Once he had it he waved it about it a bit trying to keep the stupid thing back but it seemed unafraid of both Arthur and his sword.

So he waited for it to jump at him and when it did he used the sword to swat it out of the air and away from him. It's shrieking dying body fell down in the darkened depths below and Arthur threw the sword back up onto the ledge so he could renew his grip before he fell.

"Very good," came Kara's taunting voice again. "But he won't be the last. I'll let his friends finish you off, Arthur Penndragon. But what shall I do with your little songbird?"

She turned at that point and Arthur had to crane to watch her. Watch as Kara approached Addison, her gaze intent

"Even now I can feel her absorbing my magic, too bad it suffocates her as she takes it on," she said and from where she lay Addison began to gasp. Dear God was that why she had fainted? Because this woman's magic suffocated her?

Kara lowered the torch a fraction closer to the hem of Addison's dress. "Don't!" Arthur cried.

"It would be fitting. To burn your little Cìob like your father has done to so many, like he should have done to her all along. Her magic is tied up in death and always will be."

What the hell did that even mean? Addison hadn't used her magic to kill anyone. Maybe Valiant, but Arthur was the one who dealt that death blow. The torch continued to lower and Arthur nearly cried out in horror, she needed to stop.

"Stop it!" he hollered and the torch in her hand stopped slipping closer to Addison. "It's me you want. Just finish me off why don't you?"

She finally turned away from Addison and the terrible gasping stopped. "It is not either of your destinies to die at my hand."

It was the last thing she said before she vanished. Then Arthur was left alone, hanging from a ledge he could barely see, Addison abandoned and unconscious across from him, as the skittering of many little legs could just begin to be heard coming from below him.

Addison came to gasping again. Sitting straight up. She had no idea where she was except she was on the ground, in the dark all alone.

"Aw shit sticks, this can't be good," she said to herself and then heard the distinct sound of shuffling and huffing. Great something was in there with her.

"Addison?"

Oh. Oh. OH! She knew that voice. It was Arthur. "Arthur? Where are you?" she tried to keep her voice level but even she could hear the fearful inflection at the end of that question. She was struggling to get her eyes to adjust to the dark. She had just woken up this shouldn't have been a problem, but after some peering, she managed to spot him, across from her.

Hanging from a cliff side wall across a great giant gorge.

"What the hell?!" she cried scrambling on all fours to the edge of the cavern. She didn't dare get up, knowing her clumsiness she'd just topple right over and she did not need that right now. "What are you doing over there?"

"Oh I just thought it'd be nice to hang around a bit," Arthur said between big breathy sighs. He was struggling to hold on so that wasn't good. "I've obviously fallen, Addison."

"Well can you get up?" she asked and then she looked around. "Wait a second where is that girl?"

"You mean Kara? The witch? She took the ground out from under my feet, threatened to set you on fire and then told me that neither of us are to die by her hands," Arthur said.

"Is she gone?"

"Obviously she's gone Addison!" Arthur thundered.

"Don't yell at me, I just woke up!" Addison cried. "Can you get up or not? Please say you can because I don't know how to help you if you fall!"

He groaned from where she was hanging but that wasn't the answer she wanted to hear. She was going to shout more at him except from the darkness floated a pale blue light, like a kind of death bubble.

"Jesus Christ what the hell is that?!" Addison screamed.

Arthur said nothing because he didn't know and she scrambled around until she found a rock and then she hurled it with all her might, except instead of hitting the bubble she hit Arthur in the head.

"Addison!" he shouted at her.

"I'm sorry I was aiming for that thing."

The bubble shifted up illuminating the ledge. It didn't seem threatening, nor did it seem like it was there to finish him off. Well, he was going to take the chance to save himself. He swung himself up onto the ledge, trying to ignore each of Addison's soft gasps as if she thought he was going to fall right in front of her.

Did she not have any faith in him?

As soon as he was up he moved towards the little flowering bush. "Take two!" Addison cried as he reached for them. "Just in case."

That was a good plan actually, so he did as she said before tucking one into his belt and then tossing one to the ledge so Addison could hold onto one too… just in case.

She scrambled, still on her hands and knees to grab the flower before tucking it somewhere under the bust of her dress. He'd have to ask her about that later.

The bubble began to float upwards, illuminating the path of ascent that he could use. But he'd lose the light if he lost the bubble.

"What is that?" Addison asked and then Arthur looked down. He heard it too, this massive rush of skittering against the walls. Oh that had to be the other spiders coming to get them. "Are those spiders?"

She sounded terrified. Addison didn't like bugs, they were right up there with snakes for her. Bugs didn't make her faint of course, but she always asked him to deal with the spiders first in her cell and now in her room. He had a feeling if she saw a spider the size of a small dog she might faint and he couldn't have that happen.

"Hey look at me," he said and her eyes found his again. "I'm going to climb up…"

"Well what am I going to do?"

Arthur sighed, clearly had she not interrupted he would have told her. "You need to go back up the tunnels to the top I'll meet you by the horses."

"But I don't know where I'm going!"

"You'll be fine Addison, just turn left and keep going."

"I have the worst sense of direction! You know that!"

He did but beneath him the spiders were getting closer and it was clear he didn't want to leave her until he knew she was running away.

"If I get to the horses and you're still not there I'll come back in and look for you, okay?"

"You promise?"

"I promise, now go, go Addison!" he urged and then she turned tail and sprinted, leaving her beloved prince behind to face the spiders by himself.

The climb up wasn't as harrowing as he thought it might have been. Yes he had trouble following the bubble, and yes he had been forced to leave his favourite pair of gloves behind. Yes those spiders had been quick on his heels. But he got up to the surface, found himself climbing up between the roots of a massive tree and then he took off, in what he hoped was the right direction.

It took some running but he found the horses and he found Addison with them, thankfully because he didn't want the added worry of having to find her in those caverns. The second she saw him she hugged him, threw herself at him and held him tightly. He let himself have those few precious moments in her arms but then he was spurring her onward and out of that accursed forest.

He felt this sudden urgency, like he had to get back quickly, very quickly. He was also worried about the sorceress who had tried to kill him and any other cockatrice that might be roaming in the woods.

As they rode hard towards Camelot together Arthur thought of a plan, knowing that as soon as he got home his father would be on him. Merlin didn't have time for him to waste, so when they came to a fork in the road, Arthur urged Addison to leave his side, something he never would have normally do, and take a different path to Camelot.

She trusted his plan implicitly and it was a good thing, because the second he rode up to Camelot he was arrested by his own damn guards. By order of his father, the king.

Gaius had heard that Arthur was back, but he had also heard that Arthur had been arrested. Gwen had left immediately to try and get to him and Gaius had stayed back to tend to Merlin who was fading fast.

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting Gwen finally returned.

"He hasn't got much longer. Has Arthur got the flower?"

"I don't know. Uther won't allow anyone to see him." Merlin gasped again and Gwen's face grew troubled. "Is there nothing we can do to help?"

"Only the leaf of the Mortaeus flower can save him," Gaius repeated, because it was true, he had looked up all other manner of cures and none would work on this.

"Then we have to find out if Arthur has it." She paced a bit before saying: "I could sneak into the dungeon."

"That would be very dangerous," Gaius warned, because he couldn't let her do that, even if it would save Merlin's life. To endanger another, someone kind and sweet like Gwen, would only serve to make Gaius guiltier.

"I've got to," Gwen said an urgency not only about her but in her voice. "Merlin will die if I don't."

Oh, if only Addison were here. She could sneak in and out of the dungeons on a whim. He bade her to be careful before letting her rush out of his chambers. He must have been alone for only a minute before the commotion was heard.

The door suddenly opened, Addison took two steps in, threw a flower at him, that caught the air and simply dropped to the ground.

Behind her came the clamour of boots on the stones and she shouted: "I WAS NEVER HERE!" before slamming that door shut and disappearing.

Gaius had never moved quicker. He had to do everything he could to save Merlin's life, which included magic. A magic poison needed a magic cure after all and he needed to get this cure ready before Gwen or Uther showed up.

[-]

Arthur was in his cell for only a few moments before his father came down there to yell at him. Well, he hadn't seen Addison trussed up and dragged by yet so maybe the back-up plan had worked.

"You disobeyed me!" his father had shouted, no matter what Arthur said it always came back to that.

"Of course I did!" he finally said with a groan, tired of the circle the two had been arguing in. "A man's life is at stake."

He almost wanted to throw Morgana's word back at his father. What kind of king would Camelot's people want? One that did all he could for his people or one who listened to daddy? But he didn't know where Addison was, didn't know if his father's men had caught her and he didn't want to chance too much anger until he knew where she was and if she was safe.

He was a little worried that, just to hurt him, Uther might inflict a punishment on Addison. Like death.

"Do not let Merlin die because of something I did!" he said instead.

"Why do you care so much? The boy's just a servant." That was true, but every man's life had value. Merlin wasn't less valuable just because he was servant.

"He knew the danger he was putting himself in; he knew what would happen if he drank from that goblet but he did it anyway. He saved my life."

Again. That was the second time Merlin had saved him. It was only right that Arthur try to do the same.

His father had turned away from him, probably not to show him that he felt the same way.

"There's more," Arthur said hoping to get his father to at least look at him so he could get some idea of what the man was thinking. Was the cells and stocks sort of anger, or chop of Addison's head anger? "There was a woman at the mountain. She knew I was there for the flower. I don't think it was Bayard who tried to poison me."

Well that definitely got Uther to turn around but he didn't agree. "Of course it was," he snapped. Right, fine, don't listen to him, whatever. "Where is it? The flower?"

Arthur paused. Did his father intend to give it to Gaius for him? Why did he get a bad feeling from that question?

When Arthur didn't answer Uther snapped his fingers. There was the jingling of iron chains and then there was Addison, her hands and feet both bound in shackles a wince on her face. He longed to ask if she succeeded but he couldn't with his father right there.

"I knew the second you rode up without her that you sent her down another route. It was a smart move. However, we caught her a few hallways down from Gaius," he said. "She threw her flower from the window."

Well that answered his question about if she succeeded.

"She said you had another. So where is it?"

Arthur went into his side bag and pulled out the flower from it and let his father take it from his grasp.

"Gaius will know what to do with it," he said. "You can put me in the stocks for a week—a month even. I don't care. Just make sure it gets to him… and don't punish Addison for what I did. I'm begging you."

And then he crushed the flower right there in front of Arthur, who managed to get out a half-choked cry of: "No!"

Then his father was talking in that low dangerous voice again. "You have to learn there's a right and a wrong way of doing things. I'll see you're let out in a week."

He then turned and left the cell where the door was then locked behind him. Then Uther was staring down Addison. "You…"

"It was either me or Morgana," she said. "I figured you'd rather I ride into peril instead of her."

Arthur held his breath, god what was his father going to do?

"I have removed all the books from your cells. You will get them back in a week."

"Oh… so wait… what about the new one I ordered…"

"In a week," he said sternly and then he was leaving and Addison was being unchained and put into her cell.

Arthur waited for his father to go before he turned his head towards the wall that divided he and Addison's cell.

"Did you actually get caught or…"

"Naw, I doubled back, made a big show of throwing a lily out the window and acted like they got me before I got there."

He half smiled to himself. They really did make a good pair the two of them.

Gwen came rushing in. She had snuck into the dungeons, got chased by guards for no reason. Arthur didn't have the flower and she wasn't certain he would last, but Gaius didn't seem to care. He had a different cure, one last attempt to save him. All he needed her to do was to hold his nose while he poured it down the young man's throat.

She did as she was told and then watched as Merlin half struggled against the liquid pouring down his throat.

And then he stopped breathing.

"He stopped breathing," Gwen said, suddenly confused. "What's happening? Gaius?"

Gaius was shocked. She could tell. This wasn't supposed to have happened. Gaius got up from his chair and put his head to Merlin's chest. Listening. And then he got up again.

"His heart has stopped."

The reality of the situation took a while for her to grasp. "He's dead?" she found herself asking, though what else did his heart stopped mean?

But it happened. Even though Gaius was shocked, going on about how this wasn't Merlin's destiny, it didn't change what had happened. Merlin was gone and all that replaced him now was waves of grief.

"It was my fault. Maybe if I had got there soon. Arthur would have still had the flower."

She had started to cry, she couldn't help it. Gaius swooped in to hug her, a welcomed comfort. "It's not your fault. It's mine," he said, though he couldn't have meant it, he had done the best he could. "I should have looked after him better. It's my fault!"

And then the two went quiet, Gwen to her sobbing, Gaius to his silent mourning. And then…

"That's disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourself. You're old enough to be her grandfather."

Both jumped away from one another to turn to Merlin who was slowly going about the task of propping himself up in bed as he glared at them both. Dear god, for nearly dying, to dead, to sassing them out. What a man.

Neither could be mad. They both broke out in grins. "Merlin! You're alive!" Gaius exclaimed. He might have shouted in excitement if that was the kind of guy he was.

"No, I'm a ghost come back to haunt you," he said. And there was that quick wit she admired. He really was just making a speedy recovery.

She swooped in on him immediately and kissed him. She had been dithering on that for week but now, now she was certain. He had almost died on her, and now she had him back, so a kiss he was going to get whether he liked it or not.

And then she realized what she was doing and backed away her hands ot her lips. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "It's just… I thought you were dead."

As if that explained everything. Merlin seemed to take that excuse as a good one because he simply waved it off and said: "It's fine."

And then he smiled and added: "It's more than fine."

Okay, so maybe that was just how boys reacted to kisses. And then he seemed to remember everything else because he turned to Gaius and asked: "So uh… what happened? The last thing I remember was drinking the wine."

And that's when a less happy tale was set to be told.

Merlin had been sitting, blanket still on him because he got the chills, struggling to keep down a simple hunk of bread and some cheese. And then something heavy collided with him from behind. A person, a feminine person, with a flowery aroma and her arms around his neck.

"You live!" Addison cried smothering his cheeks with kisses.

Merlin thought he might drown in them except Arthur pulled her off. "Stop fussing Addison," he ordered and then carefully looked down at Merlin as if inspecting him. "So… you're still alive then?"

As if he didn't know that. As if he couldn't see that for himself.

Merlin just nodded as he stared up at him. "I understand I have you to thank for that."

Arthur just shrugged. "Yeah, well, it was nothing. A half-decent servant is hard to come by." He made sure to not look at Merlin as he said that but he did when he said: "I was only dropping by to make sure you're alright."

Beside him Addison shook her head. "Don't let his big-tough guy act fool you. He was worried about you," she said. "He just likes to pretend he doesn't care."

Arthur hip checked her which just caused them both to break out in some sort of secretive grin. As if they were no longer talking with words but with their eyes.

"I expect you to be back to work tomorrow," Arthur told him once he had torn his eyes away from Addison.

Merlin sighed. "Oh, yeah, yeah. Of course. Uh… bright and early."

"Right, I better get her back," Arthur said indicating to Addison. "You done? You're sufficiently aware of his survival?"

Addison answered by swooping in again and covering the top of Merlin's head with kisses. "I'm just so glad you're alive. You can't leave me here with all these crazy people…"

Arthur deftly pulled Addison off of him and without missing a beat she said: "Yep, worries assuaged."

Arthur just shook his head and led her to the door, nodding to Gaius as they went by. When they got to the door Merlin called out for Arthur where he then paused and turned back to him. "Thank you," he said as sincerely as possible.

Arthur half smiled. "You too."

And then he and Addison were truly gone. Merlin returned to the meal he was trying to stomach. He couldn't help but feel like he and Arthur had turned a corner there. Maybe he wouldn't mind his destiny so much after all.