Greetings Readers! Here's the second story of this collection. I hope you enjoy it!

Warning: Reveal fic, post-season 4 spoilers, humorxhurt/comfort

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, or any of its characters. If only that were true.

"Why?"

The black-haired young man looked up into the other man's face, and his face assumed a peculiar expression. It was neither a smile nor a frown, but seemed to have the most poignant parts of both. "That's a bit of a loaded question, Arthur. And vague…what do you mean?"

The man on the other side opened his mouth but no words came out. The sitting man became more solemn and walked over to where the other was standing. "Why I have magic?" His fingers wound themselves around the bars separating them, and his gaze looked tired and old as he looked past them to meet the other's eyes. "Why didn't I tell you before?"

Merlin really had to work harder on restraining his impulses. In the past, they had certainly saved Camelot and Arthur more than a few times, but they had caused a fair share of heartache too. And it looked as though this had finally broke it. Everything.

"Arthur, I have magic."

There was no good reason that Merlin had to do it right then. Camelot wasn't in peril, Kilgharrah hadn't told him that he needed to reveal his magic to fulfill his destiny, he hadn't been caught out with his eyes flashing gold. He just couldn't stand the lies anymore – couldn't stand deceiving his friends and Arthur especially, even if he had the best intentions for doing so – and it just burst out in the middle of a meeting of the knights of the Round Table. Admittedly not the best of places, but those impulses did whatever they pleased.

There was only silence after those words. All the knights and Gwen sat gobsmacked, and Gaius nearly fell out of his chair with the shock that Merlin had revealed the secret without telling him first. In fact, he had really fallen – except for the gold flash in Merlin's eyes that righted the chair and proven the truth of his admission beyond a doubt.

For once, even Gwaine was silent. And Arthur – he had stood and simply stared at Merlin, who, after several minutes of unresponsive silence of the others, gave a resigned sigh and quietly left the chamber without another word.

Then everybody got moving. Gaius began breathing rapidly, Gwen looked torn between tending to him and running out after Merlin, and all four of the knights sprinted down to the open door. "He's gone!" Elyan exclaimed, looking shocked.

"But he couldn't have disappeared!" Leon exhaled. They turned to look at their king, who had dropped down onto his chair with a look of dawning comprehension.

Gwaine stormed toward him, his hand automatically going to the hilt of his sword. Percival strode forward to intercept him, but not before the brash knight had slammed both of his hands on the table. "What is wrong with you?" He bellowed. Arthur looked up at him. Percival managed to pull the other man away, although the look on his face bordered on complete agreement with Gwaine's shout, but not before Gwaine began fumbling with his gauntlet.

"How could you do that to him?" Gwaine yelled again. "How could you just dismiss him like that?"

"Gwaine," Leon began, walking towards him, "Arthur didn't do-"

"Exactly!" Gwaine shot Arthur a look, man-to-man. "Didn't do anything! Merlin's still Merlin, magic or not! All that does is make him a bit stupid and a lot more brave than even I knew. He fought in a place and for a place that would kill him as soon as look at him!"

Gwen's eyes began to tear up. "Arthur knows that!" She looked up. "Don't you, Arthur?" Her pleading tone belied the certainty of her words.

Arthur seemed to snap back to himself. He stood up and looked Gwaine straight in the eyes. "Find him," he said calmly but regally. "And bring him here."

Something in Arthur's eyes made Gwaine stop fighting and he tore out into the corridor, his brother knights following closely behind. Gwen looked torn about leaving Gaius, but her worry about Merlin – the look on his face as he left was frighteningly dead – led her into the search as well. Gaius, looking incredibly old, rose to join them, only to be stopped by Arthur's hand on his wrist. "Wait." Arthur's voice softened, "Please Gaius."

Gaius understood the request in the man's eyes; he'd known them since the boy was an infant. "What is it, sire?"

"I want to know. Tell me."

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

"No!" Arthur said, looking annoyed but amused somehow at the same time, "I mean, why did you lock yourself in the dungeon?"

They hadn't been able to find him anywhere. Gaius had scoured the entire castle, Gwen had been searching throughout the whole village, and the knights had gone through the surrounding forest and villages, trying hard not to worry Merlin's mother in the process. No one had expected to find him locked up in the dungeons – none of the guards had been aware that anyone was even down there.

I might need to look in our guard-screening process, Arthur thought, this is beginning to get ridiculous.

Merlin gave him a more relaxed, Merlin-like grin in response, although his overall expression seemed more guarded than usual. "Well, you know me. I aim to please."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "And who are you expecting to please by locking yourself in the dungeon?"

"Well, the guards for one," Merlin replied almost cheekily, "might as well save them the trouble of having to drag another prisoner down here – that must get exhausting." His face became more somber, and his eyes dropped to his boots. "You, for another."

"What?" Arthur managed to choke out.

"Well, keeps you from having to lock me up yourself. Now what specifically happens next to me is up to you, but I took care of the first part." There was something of a joke in his voice, but his eyes seemed to be growing increasingly worried and wet, despite his best efforts. "For what it's worth, Arthur, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I will always consider you my friend, no matter what."

Arthur's heart both soar and sank at that. Why does everyone think that I would – "Idiot." He replied.

Merlin's head shot up. Arthur continued. "I know everything, Merlin – everything. Gaius told me." He shook his head. "You really think that I would kill you. After all we've done together? What you've done for everyone?"

For once, Arthur got the delight of having rendered Merlin completely speechless. It was only for a few moments, but Arthur still treasured the victory. "You mean?"

"I mean, get out of there, you idiot. It's hardly going to improve my reputation to have my Court Magician locked up when I announce him to the court." The two shared a genuine smile, and the eavesdroppers (the knights and Gwen had absolutely no shame when it came to checking up on their friend) all sighed in silent relief. Arthur brusquely looked around. "Blast, we need to get the keys. Hang on while I-"

He was interrupted by the quiet sound of the cell door opening on its own, and whirled around in time to see the flash of gold leaving Merlin's eyes. There was an impish grin on the newly appointed Court Magician's face as he sped past his king. "Who needs keys?"

Arthur gave a bark of laughter and followed.

A/N: And that's the second story. I hope you liked it!

Thanks for reading and please review! They make me happy!