Thank you for all the reviews.
I can't believe that we are on Chapter 8. This chapter got slightly out of hand when I wrote it as you can tell by the word count. I hope you enjoy this longer chapter.
Also the thing I do for you guys. Trying to make sure that everything is correct.
Back flashes are in bold and italics.s
Chapter 8
There was little things that they did which to the outside world would seem a bit odd. To keep secret that they were working together, he had gone with a friend to go and pick up her suitcase from her room. He did all the food shopping for them, with her making the shopping list for him.
Then there were things that she did that seemed weird to him. He may have laughed, but he silently agreed with her when she moaned about how messy his flat was and started to tidy it up for him. She would always get up and get snacks for them as they worked or leave him to it for a bit to cook something.
To begin with, he was horrified every time she would take the cigarette out his mouth and throw it away before he could light it. She would just leave with the comment that she wasn't having her partner smoke and that they would smell from a mile away.
He slowly allowed himself to smile, then laugh at the stories she would tell him. The more time they spent together, the less Merlin thought about Freya.
He had let Freya into his life by chance and he didn't want to remove her from it. Morgana on the other hand had pushed herself into it.
Merlin's laughter died down at the same time as hers.
"I don't actually know where I would be without my sister." Morgana stated.
He looked over at her. "Thank you."
She turned and gave him a confused look. "For what?"
"This is the first time I think I have properly laughed in months. After Freya's death, I kept myself to myself." He started to explain. "I just … You have done things that you didn't need to do. I am grateful for them."
"What actually happened that night? Or what happened in general?"
Merlin sighed.
"It … it was back in March. I had a job to search this building. One of the shareholders, Agrivaine, had some intelligence that the building was being used by a rival business for storing some goods. I can't really remember what it was used for. I did my homework and set a date when I was going to enter the building..."
Merlin used the end of his torch to his down on the lock. It should have been the first sign that something wasn't right. The lock was old and rusty. If anyone was using it to store anything of any importance, they would have changed all the locks and made it secure. The lock broke without too much hassle and he easily slipped in.
He had studied the layout of the old warehouse for weeks, trying to get into the mind of the rival to where they would have put them. This was the easier side of the job. This was gathering more evidence that they could put out to harm the company for the CEO to leave and for Uther to take the business over. It probably wouldn't entail any blood being split.
He ran long the walls, staying in the shadows, searching for the room he wanted.
"… I should have known that something was wrong from the beginning but I only got it the more I walked around the empty building. Now I think about it, it must have been a set up. They were there waiting for me."
He didn't like the banging in his head or the feel of the floor beneath him or the cold steel on his wrists. He should have been more alert. He should have known the signs. The kick in the stomach made his cough out and open his eyes.
"Wakey wakey sunshine."
"I had heard about him. Alvarr."
"I have actually meet him. Nice guy." Morgana said.
"Not if your the one he wants to kill." Merlin replied.
"Come on! Speak! Who sent you here?!" Alvarr shouted.
Merlin swallowed as his mouth filled with blood. He had no idea how long they had been going on like this. He suspected that they were into the second day but his barings had been completely messed up. He was now glad that he had told Freya that he would be away for a few days.
Another punch to the face and Merlin knew that he would have to come up with a great story to tell Freya over his injuries. Where there's is a will, there's a way and he knew that he was going to be the one to get out alive.
"Fine. If you want to play it that way." He said before nodding his head.
Merlin felt the handcuffs being unlocked before his hand were placed on the armrests. He struggled to take his chance but the two men were stronger than him. Sometimes he wondered why he didn't take up Arthur's offer of going with him to the gym.
"Now, are you going to tell me who sent you here?" Alvarr asked, tapping a hammer into his palm.
"I have no idea how long I was there for but they had found Freya and brought her in. She was crying. I don't blame her for crying. She must have been picked up on her way home or to work. Then there was the state I was in as well."
"Look, you have a friend."
"Let go of me."
Merlin's head shot up. He had taken quite a lot and he was concentrating on keeping the pain at bay. It hit him as his mind starting racing as Freya was put in front of him.
"Merlin!" She cried, running forward towards him.
The men stopped her but he could see that she had been crying. The only thought going around his mind was how scared she must being feeling.
"Let her go Alvarr." He croaked out.
"Oh, so you do have a voice. You had me worried that you were a mute."
Merlin coughed and winced. "This is between you and me. Let her go."
"How about I leave you two to catch up?" Alvarr said as he began to leave the room.
He only turned to his girlfriend when he had left the room.
"Merlin, what's going on?" Freya said, fresh tears rolling down her face.
"Everything will be fine." He reassured her, giving her a smile. "I will make sure that everything is fine."
"You're hurt."
"I have been worse." He lied. He had to lie to her. He couldn't let her know that he couldn't feel his fingers or that it hurt every time he breathed.
"I suppose I had my opportunity there to tell her everything. They did horrible things. She cried when they continued to beat me up in front of her. She cried as they …" He stopped as he clenched his fists. "… they did horrible things to her. After that she never stopped crying. Right before they killed her, they gave us sometime. Maybe I should have known then what they were planning to do."
They had been left alone for a while now. Merlin could hear his deep breathes and her sobs. He wished he could say or do something to stop her from crying.
"I don't work in marketing."
Her sobs stopped and he allowed himself to look up at her. "Sorry?"
"I work for Camelot but I don't work in marketing. I don't head the campaigns that they do. I research into other companies but not to see what they are doing in terms of stock or … things like that."
"What do you do then?" She shouted.
"I am a trained assassin."
She let out a sharp breath. "Assassin?"
"Freya, it isn't as bad as it sounds."
"You kill people for a living."
"Yes and no."
"How can it be yes and no?"
Merlin sighed. "There are times where, yes, I have used a Thunderbolt to kill someone or shot them in the chest with a simple handgun but there have been times where I haven't done the killing."
"Please say you had nothing to do with Caerleon's death."
He remained silent.
"Merlin?"
"I have done things that I am not proud of. Look, I have killed many people over the years but I am the same person that you have always known. My job doesn't change the person I am."
"But all the nights were you are more gentle?"
"Trying to clear my mind. I can get lost with you and I don't have to think over what I do. I leave that side of me out of it." He sighed. "I never expected for you to get swept up into my life. I let you in, which was the stupid thing to do. I love you Freya. I have always tried to keep you safe. I have always tried to keep you separate from this part of my life. If I had to, I would drop this all for you."
"It's only afterwards, I realised what had happened to her. They came in, shouting. She started crying and I was so confused by the situation. I was focusing on Freya while not telling them what they wanted to know."
"Who sent you?"
"Come on tell us."
"The girl will get it."
Their voices all merged into one and Merlin didn't know what to concentrate on. He looked at Freya and that was the moment time sped up but slowed down at the same time.
She was frightened by the gun placed on her temple. They had untied her from the chair and one of them had his arm around her waist, keeping her to him. He knew what she wanted to say to him. She wanted to shout at him to tell them what they wanted to know.
"Merlin." She whispered.
The gun shot echoed around the building. The skull gave into the force of the bullet and exploded out. Blood splattered all over the man that was holding her. He let her go and Merlin shouted as her body dropped to the floor.
He was the one that was crying now.
"When I escaped, there were a number of ways that I killed them. The one that shot her went out the same way. They all ..." He paused. "I made sure that my anger was pushed onto them so that I didn't go back to Uther and push it on him. As soon as I got myself cleaned up, I ran Uther and told him that I had enough, that I wasn't doing it any more."
He turned to her and was surprised when she jumped forward and kissed him. He didn't know whether to be impressed by his body as it reacted to the action.
Merlin knew that he was lucky to work beside her but to gain her affection was something that he was sure would just be in his fantasies.
She placed her hand on his chest before she pulled back. "Sorry. You just told me how your girlfriend died and my first thought is to jump you."
He placed his hand over the one on his chest. "I need to move on some time."
He was sure that he was thinking irrationally but he smiled when she kissed him again. He pulled her closer to him and she immediately straddled his lap. He allowed her to take his t-shirt off him.
"Now that is something I didn't expect."
"What?"
"I didn't have you down as the type of guy to have a tattoo."
Merlin looked down at his chest to see the triskelion that he had on his chest. "Yeah, it surprises most people."
"Why that symbol?"
He chuckled. "Unless you did already realise, my mum was into the Arthurian legends. When I hit 18, I researched into signs and symbols that was used in that time. I came across the druids and the triskelion and I knew there and then that's what I wanted."
"My parents were into the Arthurian legends as well. Their names probably didn't help."
"Well Morgan Le Fay was the lover of Merlin at one point." Merlin commented.
"What are we to argue with literature?" She said as she joined their lips again.
