Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, only the AU is mine. Arthur, Merlin, Gwen, and everyone else belong to the BBC.

Author's Note: Some Lancelot/Guinevere in this chapter, but mostly as a background coupling. And poor Guinevere has been bored out of her mind in that tent/wandering around the camp while Merlin is out with Arthur.

Chapter 5 - Taking Great Care

From that moment on, Merlin rarely left Arthur's side. He even accompanied the navy captain to his tent that night, leaving only when they tired of talking so that they could sleep. Gwen was still awake when the pirate arrived in the prisoners' tent, though the sentry was fast asleep. Supervision of the two had grown lax as Captain Pendragon's friendliness with the prisoners grew. The sentries often treated the pirates with disdain, and sometimes with insults or even violence, but never in front of their captain.

"I do not think you see what is happening here, Merlin, but I do," Guinevere said with a grin.

"As usual, Gwen, I have no idea what you are talking about," said Merlin, sitting down beside her. He shook his head as if to emphasize his point.

"Oh, but I think you do." Gwen raised her eyebrows as though waiting for Merlin to tell her what is was that he did not know.

"Alright, what is it?" Merlin was beginning to lose his patience with the woman.

"You fancy the captain!" Guinevere whispered excitedly into his ear. Merlin turned to stare at her, shocked. A redness crept over his cheeks, up his ears, and down his neck.

"You have gone mad, Guinevere!" Merlin whispered sharply.

"But look at you blush," Gwen said, giggling.

"I am having none of this. Go to sleep, Gwen."

Guinevere pouted playfully, but heeded his command.

The next morning Arthur went to visit Lancelot in the medical tent. He was just waking up as Arthur entered. The doctor approached Arthur before he could reach the man.

"Captain, that man should have died from his wounds. His recovery is miraculous. I do not know what to make of it beyond to say there is a guardian angel looking over him."

Arthur smiled. He thought about the young man sleeping in the prisoners' tent. Merlin would have liked to hear someone call him a guardian angel. "Well then he is a very lucky man, and you are a very lucky doctor. Now if you will excuse me, I would like to speak to my friend." Arthur stepped past the pale doctor and went to meet Lancelot.

The man was full of vitality. "Arthur, I feel incredible! I have never felt so alive! I must get out of this tent, please allow me to accompany you wherever you are going today. I have a crying need to stretch my legs."

Arthur looked toward the doctor who nodded hesitantly. He and Lancelot grinned at each other. "I was thinking of going with the fishing crew today to test my hand at it. Think you are up to it?"

Lancelot jumped off the bed and was perfectly steady as he made his way to the entrance of the tent. He looked like a confined stallion that had just been set free, mane and all.

"Go shave that beard and then meet me at the prisoners' tent. You look like a rat has taken up residence on your chin," Arthur chuckled.

"Absolutely, Captain!" Lancelot replied, exiting the tent.

Arthur silently blessed Merlin for not living up to the rumors that surrounded the Dread Pirate Emrys. Had he been any other Dread Pirate, Lancelot would be dead, along with who knows how many others. As it was, Arthur was shocked to find he had developed a sort of fondness for the dark-haired boy. He couldn't help but smile at Merlin's gentle and trusting nature. He was like a child, seeing the world as magnificent and blaming only himself when things went wrong.

When he entered the tent, both of the prisoners were still sleeping, as was the sentry. Arthur rolled his eyes at the guard as he passed. He knelt beside Merlin. A long lock of shiny black hair had fallen across the pirate's forehead. An impulse rose in Arthur to brush the hair back. He reasoned that with everyone sleeping, no one would notice the gesture, and Merlin would never know it had happened. So he reached out and gently lifted the lock, tucking it softly behind the boy's ear. When Merlin started stirring, Arthur scrambled back, blushing furiously. He rose to his feet as Merlin's eyes fluttered open. A stray thought leapt to the front of Arthur's mind, a thought about how charming Merlin looked while he was sleepy, rubbing his eyes with his fists, hair playfully wild.

Arthur pushed the thought away violently.

"Arthur, what are you doing here?" Merlin mumbled. "So early..."

"It is well into morning, Merlin. If you do not wish to accompany me today I can just go myself."

At this, Merlin perked up. He tried to find any excuse he could to stay around Arthur. The previous night's brief conversation with Guinevere resurfaced in his mind, and he looked at his feet as he stood, blushing. Obviously the feelings he was beginning to hold for the navy captain were those of friendship and nothing more.

Obviously.

"What is wrong with you this morning? Are you ill?" A brief feeling of concern settled in Arthur's stomach.

"No! I mean, I am just tired. That is all. I did just wake up a moment ago. How are we entertaining ourselves today, then?" Merlin was a terrible liar.

"I thought I would try my hand at fishing with one of the food gathering groups. Are you well enough to join me?" Arthur asked tentatively. He did not want to risk sickness in a man that looked so malnourished. Merlin nodded vigorously. It set Arthur's mind at ease just a bit. He would make sure to keep a careful eye on the boy.

At that moment, two things happened. The first was that Guinevere woke up. She sat up, brushing the sand from her clothes and shaking it from her hair, that she now wore loose down her back. The second was that Lancelot entered the tent, face clean and smooth. The moment that Lancelot laid eyes on the woman, he stood transfixed at the tent flap. At first it was because he thought, from his brief vision of the scene, that he was intruding on a lady's privacy. When he realized that he wasn't, Lancelot was frozen by Guinevere's beauty. He didn't think that ladies that beautiful existed, and he sidled up to Arthur's side, staring at the woman unfalteringly.

Arthur raised a brow at Lancelot's actions. "Lancelot, this is the infamous Dread Pirate Emrys." Lancelot gave a concise, inquisitive nod to Merlin before returning his gaze to Gwen. Arthur was disappointed. He was hoping for more of a reaction. "And this - if you can still hear me, Lancelot - is his first mate, Guinevere."

"I am delighted to meet you, beautiful lady," Lancelot said, kissing her hand while she blushed. Arthur rolled his eyes, and Merlin grinned. Guinevere herself looked taken by the man, examining Lancelot as he had her.

"I suppose you would rather accompany the lady than join me today?" Arthur said mockingly. Lancelot turned to look at him with begging eyes, silently asking permission. Arthur sighed and went to exit the tent, Merlin close behind him. "Suit yourself," he called back to Lancelot, who didn't answer.

"Fishing, then? Never been fishing," Merlin said as the two men walked in the direction of the fishing site.

"I figured that you might be proficient at it, Mister Magic."

Merlin made a displeased face. "Please do not call me that."

Arthur laughed at Merlin's wrinkled nose and his furrowed brows. "Alright, alright."

"Do not expect me to use magic in front of your men just to catch some fish."

"At the rate they have been catching, I suspect your magical assistance will not be required."

When they arrived at the fishing site, a man approached them with a pair of wooden spears. He cast a suspicious eye at Merlin, but Arthur glared the man into submission. The man silently handed the spears to Arthur and then saluted and returned to his station.

"How primitive," Arthur said, handing one of the sticks to Merlin.

"I think this is going to be loads of fun," Merlin replied.

The two headed into the water, a fair distance away from the other men. Arthur aimed at a small fish and thrust his spear at the water, missing the fish completely. Merlin laughed.

"You give it a try then, it is much harder than it looks!" Arthur said, face red from embarrassment.

"I will, and I will succeed," Merlin retorted, sticking his tongue out. The challenge quickly turned into a competition. The men attempted to catch several more fish of varying sizes and colors for the next hour or so.

Neither caught a single thing.

"How does anyone catch anything like this!" Arthur called out, exasperated.

"I have no idea." Merlin, frustrated, held his hand out to the water and cast a simple spell. His eyes flashed for a moment, alarming Arthur.

"What are you doing?!" Arthur hissed.

"Just a simple spell to draw more sea creatures closer to us! This will increase our chances of catching something..."

"Be more careful, Merlin, we do not want any of my men finding out about your magic! They already have reason enough to want you dead."

Merlin hung his head. "I did not mean to cause trouble."

Arthur relented. "And you did not, not really. Let us continue fishing and see if that spell of yours worked." At that, Merlin brightened up.

While it did seem that more fish had swarmed around them, neither Merlin nor Arthur caught anything. They stood in the fading sunlight, dripping wet and discouraged.

"Perhaps we should call it a day and head back to camp..." Merlin said, defeated. He sounded quite tired.

Arthur let out a frustrated grunt. "Maybe so..."

Then, Arthur spotted something that didn't look quite like a fish in the water. "Merlin, what is that, by your feet-"

The navy captain was interrupted by a scream of pain. Merlin collapsed into the shallow water, shrieking. A large box-shaped jellyfish had wrapped its long tentacles around the pirate's leg. The cries brought various men running. Arthur yelled at them to get the creature off of the boy as he held Merlin's upper body above water. Merlin's desperate thrashing was making this difficult to do.

Screaming pain shot up Merlin's body from his leg. He had never felt such intense and absolute agony. The stabbing pain of hunger was a scrape of the knee in comparison to the burning fire that was the only thing he was currently capable of feeling. His eyes were squeezed shut, as though being unable to see the creature would make the pain it inflicted disappear. But everything Merlin did seemed to amplify the pain even more. It was as though hot metal was being pressed against his skin. The pirate captain didn't know how much longer he could endure it.

As the men pulled the jellyfish off Merlin's leg and hurtled it as far into the water as they could without touching it, Arthur picked up Merlin in his arms. Soft translucent tentacles were still stuck to Merlin's right leg and bare foot. Arthur ran as fast as he could, Merlin's crying subdued to a horrible low moan, to the doctor's tent where he had just been that morning celebrating the revival of another friend.

He raced through the camp, drawing everyone's attention, including that of Guinevere and Lancelot. They had been deeply involved in conversation, to the exclusion of everything. Gwen immediately knew the cries of her captain and she ran with Lancelot to find the two captains, following as Arthur brought Merlin into the doctor's tent and laid him out on a cot. The doctor ran over, and Lancelot and Gwen joined the navy captain around a groaning and softly crying Merlin.

"What can we do, doctor?" Arthur asked.

"I will need vinegar to keep the poison from spreading and to be able to remove the tentacles. At the word vinegar, Lancelot took off. There was a small store of supplies left from the ships, and vinegar was among those things. Guinevere went to fetch some clean, cold water and a cloth. The doctor went to retrieve a pair of forceps from his tools. Arthur stayed at Merlin's side. Merlin, in his pain-induced stupor, found Arthur's hand with his own. Arthur started at the contact, but did not let go. He squeezed Merlin's hand, letting the pirate know he was there. Merlin squeezed back weakly.

Lancelot came running in with a bottle of vinegar and shoved it at the doctor. Gwen placed a cold wet cloth against Merlin's burning forehead. The doctor pulled the cork of the vinegar bottle out with his teeth and emptied its contents over Merlin's leg.

"Get more," the doctor ordered, and Lancelot was out in a flash.

Then the man began using the forceps to carefully remove the long tentacles from Merlin's skin and place them on a tray. Merlin cried out, clasping Arthur's hand tightly. Arthur looked on with a grim expression. He felt so useless. Everyone was rushing around and doing something, and all he could do was stand there. There was nothing he could do to keep Merlin alive.

Merlin's voice became hoarse from screaming. His cries turned into cracked groans. Thick red welts were left on his leg where the tentacles had been. Lancelot rushed back in with two more bottles of vinegar, and the doctor took them, pouring them slowly and gently over Merlin's leg. After that, the three people stood around the cot with a fitfully sleeping Merlin.

"All we can do now is wait, we have done all we can..." the doctor mumbled.

Lancelot put a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "He will be all right, Arthur. I was supposed to die, but I survived. There is magic in this place."

Magic.

Arthur put his faith in the magic of the Devil's Bay and Merlin's own magic. He hoped that the place would heal the pirate enough for him to use magic to heal himself.

He hoped that Merlin would survive.

Lancelot and Guinevere left together. Arthur did not watch them go. The doctor brought a wooden stool over for his captain to sit on. And Arthur sat there for the rest of the night.

When Percival came the next morning to check on the captain and to see if there was anything he could do, Arthur and Merlin were both sleeping peacefully. Arthur was leaning with his head on the cot, and his left hand firmly grasped Merlin's right.

All that day, Arthur was in and out of the doctor's tent. He spent most of the day at Merlin's bedside, barely eating or drinking. Merlin did not wake up.

The morning after, Arthur awoke to the sensation of someone stroking his hair. He lifted his head drowsily to find that it was Merlin.

"You are awake." Arthur said.

"I am. I have been for a little while now. I did not want to wake you, you looked so calm while you were sleeping." Merlin replied with a soft smile.

Suddenly remembering his place, Arthur shot upright and drew his hand from Merlin's. The pirate's smile faded.

"Are you going to be all right?" Arthur asked with flushed cheeks.

"Yes."

"Did you use...magic?" Arthur whispered.

"Once the initial shock of the poison was out of my system and I had some control over my body, yes."

Arthur nodded. He heaved a great sigh. Merlin was a complete wreck. He had dark circles under his sunken eyes. The huge red welts from the tentacles had not faded at all. The pirate looked even thinner than usual. And he really needs a haircut, Arthur thought.

"Well, I am glad you are all right, Merlin." Arthur stood to leave.

"Do...Do you have to go?" Merlin said.

"I am sure there are duties for me to attend to. And anyway, how are you going to find that cure if you cannot even take care of yourself?"Arthur asked, smiling sadly at the pirate.

"I will because I have to, whether or not I can take care of myself. Which I can, actually, one incident with a jellyfish does not change that!

Arthur scoffed. "I guess I will have to help you," he whispered as he left the tent.