AN.: Welcome back! First of all, I'm sorry that it took me this long to add another chapter. This extra long chapter is a peace offering. Private life and a major writer's block took a toll on this story but it turned out well in the end. I also wanted to take my time to assure you that I know where this story is going, how it will play out and how it will end. This fic will not be abandoned. Even though I might take my time on some chapters.

Clack, clack, clack. The sound of their fast strides reverberated from the stone walls as Gaius and Gwaine rushed towards Gaius' chambers. Gwaine adjusted his grip on Merlin's boney hip and shoulder, resisting the urge to cringe away from the cold that radiated from his friend. The tension between the physician and the knight prevented them from exchanging words on their way, which appeared never-ending in Gwaine's opinion. They finally reached the wooden door to Gaius' room and Gwaine gingerly entered, careful not to bump any part of Merlin on the doorframe. Looking around and spotting the padded stretcher, Gwaine made his way around the furniture to put Merlin down before Gaius' voice suddenly made him stop dead in his tracks.

"No, not here." Gwaine turned to look at the elder whose expression was very serious. "Arthur told the guests that they could come by if they need medical attention. Bring him up to his room; there we can talk in private."

Gwaine tried not to swallow or look like a rabbit caught in a trap as he made his way up the few steps to Merlin's room, Gaius right behind him. The questions he had to ask were burning inside him with a never ceasing flame.

Gently, Gwaine put Merlin onto his bed and arranged his slim form to be more comfortable. Behind him, Gaius closed the door with a loud squeaking noise. He had an extra blanket draped over one arm and sat down next to Merlin's bed on a provided chair. Taking a look at the elder, Gwaine couldn't help the dread from crawling under his skin. Sure, he knew that he himself would never hurt Merlin and he would protect his friend, but that didn't mean that Gaius knew that; Gwaine wanted to avoid the treatment the noble had received from Gaius in the great hall at all cost. Nobody wanted to draw Gaius' ire onto themselves if they were in their right mind. He just hoped that he could convince the physician that he meant no harm to Merlin.

Gwaine nervously took a chair located on the other side of the bed. He watched as Gaius gently covered Merlin with the extra blanket, tucked him in and put a hand on his ward's face to feel his temperature. The knight remained silent, not wanting to disturb the physician doing his work. Gwaine's eyes wandered over Merlin's still form; Even though his friend was cold as ice, he wasn't shivering at all. His skin was as pale as moonlight and he had dark circles under his eyes, telling stories about exhaustion, sickness and lack of sleep. Gwaine's eyes were glued to his friend to the extent of not realizing that Gaius had finished examining Merlin a while ago and was now staring at Gwaine from under his eyebrows. He cleared his throat to get the knights attention. Gwaine's eyes snapped towards Gaius, worry and fear openly displayed in them but Gaius couldn't figure out if he was scared and worried for or because of Merlin. Could even be both.

"I bet you have a lot of questions." Gaius said, his words slicing through the silence.

"Yes- I- I…" Gwaine only managed to stutter.

"But first, you need to answer some of mine." Gaius interrupted Gwaine, his chin raised slightly to display authority. Gwaine shrank away from the respected physician.

"I understand." Gwaine nervously tapped his feet on the wooden floor before he was ready to gather all the courage and certainty he had and returned the look Gaius threw his way with determination to stand strong for whatever his future might hold.

"You know." It was not a question. Gaius knew that Gwaine knew. His phrasing was also vague enough to not give anything away in case Gwaine didn't actually know Merlin's secret.

"Yes." Gwaine decided to be patient and let Gaius ask him whatever he wanted to know from him before he'd dare to ask a question himself.

"Since when?"

"For a few hours now." That had not been the answer Gaius was expecting; His eyes widened comically before his eyebrows furrowed in understanding.

"I knew that this was going to happen sooner or later! I told him to stay low, to let it rest, to not use it until it recovered!" Gaius deflated, his shoulders slumping, the protective aura-veil still there but thin enough to let an air of desperation through. Gaius took a heavy sigh and Gwaine took it as an opportunity to ask a question which was burning in his throat.

"Recover? What should recover?" Gaius looked up at Gwaine again with a look on his face as if he'd already forgotten the knight was with him in the room. He sat up straighter before answering.

"Merlin's magic." He wasn't beating around the bush anymore. "Merlin has magic. And his magic is sick."

"His magic is sick? I didn't know magic could get sick…" Gwaine said thoughtfully but his attention never wavered.

"We didn't know either until he started to lose control over it." Gaius said while nodding, his gaze hefted on a spot in front of him.

Gwaine couldn't help but interrupt at this point. "What do you mean he lost control? Doesn't it usually take a lot of control and concentration for a sorcerer to perform magic? So how come losing control means using magic in Merlin's case?"

Gaius stared at Gwaine for a drawn-out breath before coming to terms and deciding that he should tell the whole story.

"You should know that Merlin isn't like sorcerers the you know. The people who use magic have mostly obtained that ability by years of practice. For people like them, magic was a choice. Some have an affinity for sorcery and it doesn't take them long to grasp the concept and understand some of its ways, but even then, they need to learn spells in the words of the old religion to make it work. That is how magic and sorcery works: Studying, learning and practicing. It's also the reason why Uther could ban magic; If you don't learn and practice magic, you don't have magic. It's your choice. But Merlin never had a choice." Gaius swallowed before he continued.

"Merlin was born with magic." Gaius could see the confusion suddenly etched into the lines on Gwaine's face. Before the knight could voice a question, Gaius continued.

"All that magic you felt today? That blast of pure energy that washed over the room? That was only a part of the magic which lies dormant deep within Merlin. He was born like this… So instead of practicing how to use magic, Merlin had to practice how to control it. Even a few years ago, he still had trouble with his powers because he was using magic out of reflex; When something within your reach is falling towards the floor, the body reacts on its own, trying to catch the object out of reflex. Due to Merlin's magic, almost everything he has vision on, lies within his reach. A falling bucket would freeze in the middle of the air, an object he was reaching for – physically – obeyed and flew to his hand, a door was pushed open without him touching it. Merlin was a wandering miracle – he still is! But now, he is a miracle in hiding. And living in Camelot means that if his power comes to light-"

"It might cost him his life…" Gwaine finished Gaius' sentence while looking at Merlin, his inconspicuous friend who held so much wonder. "If that is all true, then why is he in Camelot? Why did he come here in the first place? He must've known that using magic was punishable by law with the death penalty. Why would he risk his life?"

"As you might imagine, wherever Merlin goes, he is the odd one out. He doesn't fit in. He doesn't know what it means to be normal, to be without magic. It's that feeling for him everywhere he goes, but it was even worse in Ealdor. The children bullied him and Hunith had to take extra care day in and day out to make sure nobody witnessed Merlin using magic. Unlike Camelot, Essetir had not banned magic or would punish it, but Hunith feared that there would be people after Merlin once someone found out about his magic. Just imagine word got out about a small child being able to perform the strongest magic imaginable. Merlin's life would be over." Gwaine nodded unnoticeably, immersed in the tale Gaius related.

"To protect him, Hunith shut him out from the outside world as best as she could. She was able to keep his secret, but as Merlin grew older, his power and abilities grew as well. At some point it was too conspicuous for him to continue living among the people in Ealdor and Hunith sent her precious, protected son to Camelot to be under my care, in hope that I would be able to train and help him control his abilities. It might seem odd to you Gwaine, but with his arrival in Camelot, Merlin was suddenly in the place where he was supposed to be; His magic started to turn from a curse into a gift as he used it to save people from magical threats. He saved all of our lives a dozen times. He started to have a purpose and used his magic deliberately. That practice helped him gain control over this huge power. Being in Camelot is Merlin's destiny." Gaius paused thoughtfully and seemed to remember something which he needed to say.

"Gwaine, I assure you, even though Merlin has magic, he is not evil. He would never use his magic for the sole purpose of harming someone. And he doesn't have some kind of hidden agenda-"

Gwaine almost laughed out loud at Gaius' attempt to convince him that Merlin was anything but a malicious, evil sorcerer. In the end, he couldn't hold in a barked laughter.

"Merlin? Evil? Those two words would never go together, magic or not, it doesn't matter. Merlin is Merlin and that means a true friend and someone more than worth protecting. You and Merlin have nothing to fear from me. I'm here to help and I certainly don't want my friend to shoulder such a burden alone. I'm on his side and I forever will be." Gaius expression was filled with relief and a warm kindness that put a smile on Gwaine's face.

"But back to the problem." Gwaine said hesitantly, indicating a hand in his friend's direction. "What is wrong with Merlin? Why is he losing control over his magic?"

Gaius sighed again while scratching his chin. "That idiot caught the flu and had to take a few days off from his duty. Merlin refused to leave Arthur's side because his true duty is –and always will be – to protect Arthur. Merlin feared that something might happen to the king during the festivities and he wanted to stay by his side to save him from whatever harm might come his way. While being sick, he soon realized that his magic wasn't working like it should be; Spells he usually casts without any effort suddenly made him break a sweat. It strained him to use his magic. So since Merlin isn't a normal human, we figured that the magic, which is part of his being, was sick as well. And when there is sickness, there needs to be recovery. I advised him to take his time to recover and do his magic a favor and not make use of it until it was fully recovered as well. Merlin didn't like that idea, but he agreed. It didn't take him long to break that agreement though. The minute I was gone to visit my patients, he snatched the big spell book he owns and performed a healing spell on himself. That's when all the trouble started; The healing didn't go right because of his weak and ill magic and instead of healing him, it damaged him. He told me about the barrier inside him which holds all that power at bay and how he was able to control it to measure the right amount of magic he needs to perform a spell. It appears that that barrier is not under his control anymore. Sometimes when he wants to perform magic, nothing happens; Other times he accidentally uses way too much magic for a spell which actually requires a lot less. Sometimes, he doesn't even want to use magic, it happens out of reflex or just because he is thinking about it. And even then, he can't control the amount of magic and energy leaving his core. It's a complete disaster." Gaius eyes lingered on his ward's face while he spoke.

Something about this sounded familiar to Gwaine and he remembered the pure look of shock in those golden eyes staring at him before Merlin was able to cover them up and broke the eye contact. So Merlin accidentally performed magic during the knights fight to save Gwaine from getting injured and that while standing next to the king of Camelot. Oh Merlin. Gwaine rubbed at his eyes with the palm of his hands. "So let me get this straight. While juggling, he accidentally performed magic which also happened to almost kill him?"

"Yes. Using that much magic at once seems to be very draining. He will be fine. I doubt that it could really kill him, but it's definitely not pleasant. In this case, it worked in our favor; It made sense that Merlin might be targeted as the kings friend and manservant." Gaius smiled at Gwaine. "Thank you for the quick thinking back then. As soon as the sorcery was done, I was afraid that I wouldn't manage to get Merlin out of it. You saved his life by spreading the lie."

"Well, on the other hand, we have a non-existent sorcerer on the loose in Camelot now. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to make them search for a sorcerer with Merlin's current… predicament."

Gaius let loose a bitter laugh. "That might be a problem, yes."

"Problem? What problem?" A tired voice in the middle of the knight and the physician drew their attention to it. Merlin's pale lips were formed into a small smile and his steel blue eyes were jumping from Gaius' to Gwaine's face. "Well…? How bad was it? Will I be executed?" Merlin had put on a joking manner but Gwaine could see the fear glistening in his eyes.

"Welcome back my friend." Gwaine said with a warm voice, hoping his smile and smooth manner would help in calming down Merlin's nerves. "Do you think I would let that happen when I just found out about your amazing powers? Not going to happen, my friend. You are safe, they don't know it was you who performed the magic."

The smile Merlin gave them almost made them forget about the whole predicament.

AN.: I hope you liked this chapter. Leave a review ^^