A/N: I'm sorry for updating a few days late, life basically got in the way. Also, I'm going to be out of town until the 17th, so I probably won't be able to write the next chapter until after I get back. It'll hopefully be posted within 2 weeks of today, though. Anyway, that update will be the last chapter. Yes, there is only one chapter remaining! And now, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, just in case you haven't caught that by now.
Merlin sat at the table in Gaius's chambers and turned a page in yet another old book. His eyes were beginning to glaze over in boredom. "This is hopeless!" he announced loudly.
"Now, don't say that," said Gaius. "Think optimistically."
"I'm trying," said Merlin, "but we've been looking for almost an hour, and we've found next to nothing."
Gaius was silent for a moment. "Maybe it's because we do not know precisely what we are looking for."
"What do you mean?" said Merlin. "I'm looking for information on Fred. I thought that was obvious."
"Yes, yes," said Gaius, "but what specifically are you trying to find? You're not going to find information in these books about a puppy."
Merlin thought for a minute before acknowledging that Gaius had a good point. Focus had never been his strong point, and he really didn't know what he was looking for. He was hoping that something would just jump out at him, but what he really needed to do was focus his search. "Okay," said Merlin. "I'll admit that you might have a point. What do you suggest?"
"Well," said Gaius, "Maybe book research isn't what we need."
Merlin was shocked. "You mean… you're actually suggesting that we shouldn't use books? But you always talk about how important knowledge and research is!"
"Yes, and knowledge and research are important. I think, however, that this particular scenario calls for a more direct form of research."
"What does that mean?" asked Merlin.
"Think, Merlin. We really don't know what Fred is, so we can't research information on him. You can, however, consider what he will do next. You know that he wants to destroy Camelot. I think the answer will come if you put yourself in his place. Imagine what you would do first in order to destroy Camelot."
"What, are you suggesting that I try to destroy Camelot? Because Gaius, I think that's a really bad idea. I'm not destroying Camelot!" Merlin's voice grew louder. "I have to protect Arthur! How could you even say something like that?"
Gaius managed with effort not to roll his eyes at Merlin's antics. "Of course that's not what I'm suggesting," said Gaius. "I'm just saying that you should try to imagine the best way to destroy Camelot, so that you can predict Fred's next move.
"Oh," said Merlin, simply, relaxing. "I see."
"Good," said Gaius. "Now, think."
Merlin screwed up his eyes in concentration. This time, he tried to block himself from all distractions, and he was somewhat successful. At least this time, he was not distracted by a butterfly. Gaius knew to be completely silent while Merlin was thinking because otherwise Merlin would not be thinking for long.
A second passed. A minute. Two minutes. Five. A clock would have been ticking, but there were no clocks to tick. No, the room was dead silent. There was not even a cricket to break the silence.
"I've got it!" announced Merlin.
"Great!" said Gaius. "What have you thought of?"
"Well, if I were to overthrow Camelot," started Merlin. "I think I would go straight for the king. It would send the kingdom into chaos."
"That's all you thought of? In that much time?" Gaius said.
Merlin glared. "No, that's not all." He was silent for a moment.
"Yes?" said Gaius.
"Okay, yes, that was all," said Merlin.
Gaius blinked.
"Well, do you have any suggestions?" said Merlin.
"I think, Merlin, that you need to figure out where Fred would go."
"That would probably be helpful," considered Merlin.
"Yes," said Gaius, "so if you were trying to kill the king, where do you think you would go?"
Merlin thought for a moment. And thought. And thought.
Gaius finally took pity on him. "His chambers, of course! That's the place where Uther has the least protection."
"I see," said Merlin, although he did not see at all.
"Fred will probably hide there and attack Uther when he retires for the night," said Gaius, trying to be clearer.
"Oh!" said Merlin. He understood now. "So you think that Fred is probably hiding in Uther's chambers right now?"
"Yes, I think so," said Gaius. "It seems like the most likely possibility."
"Okay," said Merlin. "I'm going then. Now."
"Make sure you aren't seen," Gaius cautioned. "It won't look good if you're caught sneaking around in Uther's chambers."
"No, it probably wouldn't," said Merlin. He stood there for a moment, as if he had forgotten what he was doing.
"Go, Merlin!" said Gaius.
"Oh, yes, right!" said Merlin quickly, before jogging to the door.
He continued jogging down the hallway until he began to notice that people were giving him odd looks. He realized that it probably looked rather odd for him to be running, especially when he couldn't be doing anything for Arthur in such a hurry. Arthur was, after all, still at practice with the knights. Merlin carefully slowed his pace to a more sedate walk so he would not arouse suspicion.
Within minutes, he had reached the king's chambers. He gasped in surprise at the sight that appeared before him. It wasn't that startling, not really, but Merlin always had a love for the dramatic.
There was not a single guard in front of Uther's chambers. Considering the lack of security in Camelot, that was hardly surprising. Still, one would have thought there would at least be a single guard. Still, Merlin reasoned, the door must at least be locked. That would explain the lack of guards. If Uther wasn't there, well, a lock would most likely suffice. In reality, a lock would be a suitable deterrent for any thieves stupid enough to attempt to steal from the king's chambers.
Merlin, however, was not a thief, and a lock would hardly stop him. "Tospienge," he whispered, and the door unlocked with a click. He smiled. This was simply too easy. He stepped inside of the room and closed the door quietly behind him.
"Fred?" Merlin called softly. "Fred?"
There was no reply. Merlin walked slowly through the room, looking over the elaborate decorations in the chambers. The expensive furniture and intricate designs made Arthur's room look simple by contrast. If the room were compared side by side with Merlin's own, well, the difference would be ridiculous.
With a blink of his eyes, Merlin cleared his head. Now was not the time to be focusing on decorations. Now was the time to find Fred. Of course, there was always a chance that he was not here, but it seemed likely. Still, Fred was not responding to his name, and Merlin didn't see him anywhere.
There seemed to be only one way to decide once and for all if Fred was in there. That is, one way other than checking under the bed and in every nook and cranny throughout the room. That was an idea that did not appeal to Merlin, so he quickly scratched it out. That elimination left only one other idea. Magic.
Merlin pulled at his magic and felt it well up in him. He manipulated the strands, sending them away from him as his eyes flashed golden. It travelled through the air softly, reaching every surface that there was to reach, until…. Yes, Fred. Fred was in there. Merlin followed the strand slowly and found himself in front of the bed. Fred really was not particularly creative when it came to hiding spots. With a whispered word, Merlin strengthened his strands of magic and used them to pull Fred out from under the bed.
Fred yelped, startled, as he was pulled from beneath the bed. He looked up at Merlin with big eyes.
"I know what you did," said Merlin.
"Bark," said Fred.
"Don't give me that," said Merlin. "I know you're trying to destroy Camelot."
Fred tilted his head to the side, looking up at Merlin with a sad expression.
Merlin didn't blink.
"Fine," said Fred. "I'm trying to destroy Camelot."
Merlin jumped. And then blinked. And then jumped again. And then began shaking his head. "I need sleep or something, I could've sworn you just talked."
"That's because I did," said Fred.
Merlin blinked again. He looked at Fred. Fred looked back. "Wait… so you're actually talking?"
"Yes, I am," said Fred.
Merlin did not understand how that could be in anyway possible, but it was clear that Fred was in fact speaking, despite the fact that he was equipped with a snout and a face that simply did not lend itself to human speech. He should not be able to speak, but he was.
Fred shook his head at the surprised look that still was on Merlin's face. "Why is this so unbelievable to you? I'm more intelligent than you'll ever be."
Merlin sniffed. This attack on his intelligence was more than he would put up with. Only Arthur was allowed to call him stupid. Well, him and, on occasion, Gaius. "I am not stupid!"
"I didn't say that," said Fred consolingly. "I just said you weren't as smart as me."
"Oh, well I suppose that's alright then," said Merlin, before stopping for a moment. "Although, actually no, that's not okay. You are a puppy."
"Well, I'm not just a puppy," said Fred, "but I'm sure that you've figured that out by now."
"Of course!" said Merlin. "I know exactly what you are! You can't hide your true nature from me!"
"Yes?" Fred. "What is my true nature then?"
Merlin blinked. He really wasn't sure how to reply to that since he wasn't completely sure what Fred was himself. "Well," Merlin started. Then he stopped. He decided that that was a complete argument in itself.
"Exactly," said Fred. "You don't know." His puppy mouth formed an evil looking grin.
"I do, too, know!" said Merlin. "I just don't want to tell you because I don't want to tell you more than you already know. Why would I help you?"
"I think that I already know what I am," said Fred.
"I doubt that," said Merlin darkly. Since he had no real threats to make at that particular moment in time, he decided that it was best to attempt to sound intimidating through empty comments with no real meaning.
They stood in silence for a moment, facing each other.
"Well, what are you going to do?" Merlin finally said to break the awkward silence between him and the puppy.
"Why would I tell you that?" asked Fred. "I might tell you something that you don't already know."
Merlin glared, recognizing Fred's recycled use of his own words. "Trust me," he said, "I already know."
"I'm not going to trust you," said Fred. "I think you're lying."
They seemed to have reached an impasse, Merlin realized, but he didn't want to say so to the puppy. He didn't know about the puppy, and the puppy was not about to tell him.
Suddenly, Merlin realized something. "Why did you choose to start talking now?" he asked. After all, in all the time he had spent with Fred before, he never had spoken.
"Why, because you've only just now started to suspect me," said Fred. "I would have thought that it was obvious. I was hardly going to start speaking when you still thought I was a simple puppy. Now, though, there's no real reason not to. It just makes communication an awful lot easier."
"Well, if you're not just a puppy, what are you?" asked Merlin.
"I thought you already knew."
"I do, but I want to hear your explanation of it," Merlin said lightly.
Fred rolled his eyes. Merlin did not know that he could do that, but by this point, it was not really surprising. "I'm not going to tell you," said Fred. "Anyway, you'll find out soon enough."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Merlin.
"This," said Fred, as Merlin watched with shocked eyes.
A/N: Cliffhanger! Come on, admit it, you're dying to find out about Fred. And next chapter, you will! In a way, it's kind of like the tension leading up to finding out about River Song. Except that it's nothing like that at all. Anyway, as I said, the next (and last) chapter will be posted in like 2 weeks, after I get home from vacation. You shall just have to wait =]. And go ahead and review because reviews are awesome! Really, really awesome.