A/N: I'm back with the next chapter :D I probably don't have to say it but I'll say it nonetheless: The HUGEST of thanks to everyone who reviewed/followed/favorite :) Special thanks to those who reviewed to more than once, you're all great supporters ;)

Now, on with the chapter; read and enjoy :D

Disclaimer: Nope. Nothing changed. Still don't own Merlin.

CHAPTER 7: PREVENTING ANGEL

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He would never in his whole life admit it, but Arthur felt slightly guilty. Maybe he had been a little unfair? Gwen was just too kind hearted, so it wasn't her fault for inviting Merlin. That's actually why he loved her in the first place, because of her big heart and endless kindness.

With a sigh, Arthur kicked off a stone that lay on the street in front of him. It rolled down into a garden through a flowerbed and crushed some small white flowers before stopping at the trunk of a cherry tree.

Arthur decided that he would go find Gwen and apologize to her. Maybe he should also buy her a present? Flowers or something like that.

After a few minutes of walking through the streets, Arthur spotted a little flower shop on the other side of the street. To make sure that he had enough money with him, Arthur brought out his black wallet and peered inside.

He was greeted by almost total emptiness; just some small change was lingering in the corners of his wallet. So he had to visit a bank before he could come back here. Great.

With yet another sigh, Arthur made his way over to the next bank, just two streets away. As he entered the bank, he noticed that it was relatively crowded, in front of every ATM stood some people, all waiting to get their money. Maybe there was an unexpected sale somewhere?

Arthur patiently lined up pulled out his bank card. After a few minutes of waiting, it was finally his turn. He took a few notes out off the ATM when he suddenly heard a gunshot.

The blonde instantly spun around, all thoughts of horror in his mind. He kind of expected to see a bloodied corps lying behind him, but there only were some people who trembled with fear or had their eyes wide open with confusion.

In the entrance of the bank stood a beautiful woman with long blond hair wearing a tight blue dress. She held an old-fashioned black gun towards the ceiling were now a little hole was present.

"Onto the ground, humans. This is an armed raid, so please cooperate, okay?" The woman purred with a soft smile on her red lips.

An armed raid? This was bad.

Arthur watched with tense caution as the men started to go around and collect money from the people and the employees of the bank. He realized with horror that the woman was coming towards him, her gun directed at his heart. Arthur's heartbeat quickened and some little sweat drops appeared on his forehead.

"You remind me of someone" The woman said and smirked at Arthur. The smirk seemed familiar to him… Then it hit him. The smirk looked like Morgana's! Then this woman had to be- "Morgause" Arthur breathed and narrowed his eyes. It didn't surprise him that his half-sister's half-sister was a criminal; that suited their characteristics.

"I'll take it that you must be Arthur" Morgause said darkly, the smile had vanished from her face. "You're an enemy of Morgana. And all enemies of my sister are also enemies of mine."

What was that crazy woman talking about? It's not like they were in a war or something like that…

"What do you want?" he hissed and glared at the blonde woman. Suddenly, a fist met his chest and Arthur stumbled backwards until he landed on his backside on the ground. How could this woman be so strong? She just looked like any other woman but her fist had felt like a horse kick.

"What I want?" She snarled and released the safety catch on her gun. "I want to help my little sister with getting rid of you. I think she still lacks the guts to use…drastic measures." Arthur froze in shock. This wasn't happening, this couldn't be true! He was going to die, wasn't anyone going to help him. He looked helplessly at the other people in the back from where he was sitting on the ground, but they all seemed occupied with obeying the criminals. Arthur's gaze flickered back to the Morgause

She smiled and laid her finger on the trigger.

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Not being able to fly was such a nuisance, especially when one's protégé was in danger. Merlin would be ten times faster if he could just spread his wings and rush through the sky. But no, there had to be people everywhere.

Merlin prided himself with being a fast runner but that didn't mean it wasn't exhausting. He felt a few sweat drops forming on his forehead and his breaths became shorter and shorter with every step he took.

Arthur's heartbeat echoed in his head and became louder with every passing second, which meant he was drawing closer to his destination.

Merlin's steps faltered until he stood completely still. There was a strange presence…A dark presence…

Then realization hit him. It was a fallen angel! But who could it be? Of course there was a chance that Mordred was coincidentally passing by, but that wasn't very likely. That meant…there had to be two of them.

With new concern for Arthur's wellbeing, the young angel started to run once more until he found himself standing in front of the back entrance of a bank… The door was wide opened and allowed Merlin to peer inside. As he did so, he noticed a few men entering the vault, armored with guns. The raven haired just stared at them for a second, but then he decided that just standing there wouldn't change a thing.

While focusing on suppressing his wings from bursting out of his back, Merlin slowly walked up to them, ready to use his powers.

"Hey, you there. What are you doing?" he demanded and tried to look intimidating.

They all span around simultaneously and directed their gun's at his chest. "Onto the ground and keep silent!" A man with beard barked glaring daggers at the raven haired.

"But I don't want to" Merlin teased and raised his hands whereupon all their weapons kept flying towards him and landed on the ground. Merlin awaited the men to be shocked and confused, but all they did was clenching their teeth. Weren't they at least a bit surprised?

"So you're one of these." The man with the beard growled and took a few steps away from Merlin.

One of these? What did he mean with that? Merlin remembered the dark presence from before. So these men must know that a fallen angel was here. Did they think Merlin was one as well? What an insult, he was just an innocent angel. More or less.

Annoyed with the men, Merlin raised his right hand high above his head and let it rush down towards the ground. The men suddenly stumbled backwards and landed unconsciously on the ground.

Merlin had to lean at the wall for support; this attack had been really exhausting. He usually didn't use that great amounts of powers at once, but this situation was serious and the time was passing. He needed to hurry and find Arthur.

When Merlin entered the bank, he noticed many things at once.

First, his back started to itch like hell. His wings wanted so bitterly to burst through his back, but Merlin managed to suppress them.

Second, there were many armed men that were threatening the poor civilians to get their dirty hands on their money.

Third, there was a stunningly beautiful woman standing in the middle of the room and she had the darkest aura he had ever sensed. No doubt that she was a fallen angel.

And fourth, his protégé was sitting on the ground with a gun being pointed at his chest by said fallen angel.

Merlin did everything he could to remain composed; he couldn't risk that his wings would come out no, so he had to keep his temper. (It wasn't easy, considering that a fallen angel pointed a gun at his protégé!) He watched in horror as the blond woman started to pull the trigger.

In less than a second, Merlin was standing next to her, slapping the gun out of her delicate hands. It landed on the ground with a clattering sound and Merlin instantly kicked it away to the other side of the room. The raven haired stood himself in front of Arthur protectively, facing the woman, who looked slightly startled at her empty hands. Her cold eyes met his own pseudo blues and time seemed to stop.

"It's nice to meet you, little angel boy." Her voice radiated inside his head, it was a really strange feeling.

"A telepathic conversation?" He replied by just thinking it in his head

"Oh, you're quick to understand. I assume you're the guardian angel of blondy here?"

"And I assume you're a fallen angel."

"That's right. My name is Morgause."

"Morgause….You're Morgana's sister!" Merlin remembered Gwen mentioning her.

"It seems you're well informed. Now, would you mind telling me your name?"

"I don't see why I should do this."

"Oh, I'm sure this won't be the last time we meet. I'd like to greet you properly when we meet again."

"…Call me Merlin if you have to."

"What a cute name. I think we should-"

Morgause was interrupted midsentence by one of her men. "I'm getting impatient, Mistress Morgause. You lost your gun, so I'll finish this for you." Morgause turned around to the man and glared at him dangerously. "Stop, you idiot! If you shoot blondy now, there's nothing that will hold him back" She screamed and pointed at Merlin.

But it was too late. The man had already pulled the trigger.

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Everything seemed to slow down.

Arthur watched as the man raised his gun and pulled the trigger in slow motion. It was directed at his head and Arthur knew he was probably going to die.

He was just able to blink, everything around him moved unbelievingly slow. It seemed like Morgause was shouting something at the man that had shot and Arthur watched in horror how the bullet slowly flew towards his face. He had never really believed in god, but no he found himself praying. He literally begged to live on. He wasn't ready to die yet! He didn't want to die when he had been fighting with everyone! With his father, Gwen and even Merlin.

Stupid and brave Merlin, who had somehow managed to disarm Morgause. Who was now standing in front of him, somewhat protectively. He had helped him before, when he had been alone in that dark alley, or when he had been arguing with his father. Merlin was always there when Arthur needed him; it was almost creepy, as if the raven haired was some kind of stalker. Arthur was just glad that Merlin probably was going to get out of this alive.

When the bullet was just inches away from his face, Arthur found himself pleading once more. Please god, I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. Please, god, help me. Help me somehow!

Just as Arthur was thinking the last sentence, Merlin suddenly spun around with incredible speed, everything seemed to have slowed down, but not the raven haired. His big blue eyes seemed to stare at the blonde, but they actually were directed at the bullet.

Arthur wasn't sure he saw it right, but Merlin's lips seemed to move. Not in a shouting way, more like a soft whisper. The raven haired's eyes seemed to narrow as he continued to seemingly whisper to the bullet. Arthur awaited the bullet to pierce through his head, killing him in less than a second, but as he glanced at the still in slow motion moving piece of metal, it seemed to suddenly change directions.

Arthur must have gone insane! Or he was in some kind of shock, so that his brain was unable to proceed what was going on around him.

But he was totally sure that he saw how the bullet turned around in midair just inches apart from his head and flew slowly off into the direction of the ATMs.

Suddenly everything around him spun back into place and loud voices and the far way sound of police sirens emerged in his ears like an explosion. Everything seemed to speed up and Arthur just let out a shaky breath that he didn't know he had been holding.

He looked over to the ATMs and saw that the bullet had hit one of the monitors. After that he looked towards the door, where he could see Morgause and her men leave in a hurry, as the police sirens grew louder and louder.

Still in shock, Arthur tried to pull himself of from the ground, but he was trembling to the point that he couldn't push himself up, so he just kept sitting on the cold floor while looking up and down his body. He was alive. He really was alive. That was just impossible. What had happened here?

All kind of thoughts swirled through his head and Arthur jumped a little when he suddenly felt hands on his shoulders.

"Arthur? Are you alright? Maybe we should get you into a hospital…It seems like we also have to talk with the police… Arthur? Can you hear me?"

He just stared into Merlin's face, noticing concern and obvious stress on the younger one's face. His hands felt warm and comforting on Arthur's shoulders and the blonde wanted nothing more than to curl himself up in his bed and sort all of his confusing thoughts out.

"Back to college…Please…" He mumbled monotone and shoved Merlin's hands away with his own trembling ones. He could see a soft and understanding smile on his friends face as Merlin helped him to stand up. Just staring blankly into space Arthur had no intentions on moving on his own.

He must have witnessed some kind of wonder. Maybe god existed and he had saved his life? Arthur mused and stared at the ground.

Suddenly, long pale fingers wrapped around his hand and pulled Arthur softly into the direction of the door. "Come on, Arthur. Let's get you back home."

As he stared at the warm hand that was holding his own, he knew that it wasn't god who had helped him. His gaze wandered up to the big azure eyes that blinked at him with innocence and warmth.

It had been Merlin's doing.

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Merlin quickly turned on the lights in Arthur's room and guided the blonde inside, ignoring that they actually were holding hands. It didn't bother Merlin and his protégé was obviously still in some kind of shock. He knew he shouldn't leave Arthur alone when he was in this state, but Merlin wanted nothing more than to escape this situation. He was way too tired to deal with Arthur now and his whole head was full of troubling thoughts.

Two fallen angels in one town? That couldn't possibly be a coincidence. No, something bigger was going on here and Merlin was worrying to no end. But pondering about that now wouldn't accomplish anything.

With a sigh, Merlin sat Arthur down on the bed, gently removing his hand. The angel let his concerned gaze flicker over his protégé. His blue eyes were staring blankly into space and a deep frown was present on his features. Arthur seemed deep in thought and not able to comprehend what was going on around him.

Slowly, Merlin laid one of his hands on Arthur's shoulder and looked the blond into the eyes. "Arthur? If you're alright now, you should go to sleep." He suggested while trying to somehow get his attention.

After a moment of silence, Arthur just nodded. Not completely satisfied with the answer, Merlin once more patted his protégé's shoulder and turned around with a "Good night, sleep well" ready to leave for his own cozy bed.

"Wait" Suddenly a hand grabbed Merlin's wrist and pulled him back, so that he found himself sitting on the edge of the bed.

He turned his head around to Arthur, a questioning look in his eyes. Arthur seemed to be back in the present, his eyes completely focused on Merlin's.

"What have you done?" He demanded, keeping his strong iron grip on Merlin's delicate wrist.

"Huh?" Merlin gave as an unintelligent answer. What was Arthur referring to? He had done so many things in his life; couldn't he be a little more precise? Besides, the grip on his wrist started to hurt a little…

"What have you done back there in the bank?" Arthur clarified, staring at Merlin who seemed to grow a little uneasy and shifted nervously.

"But you were there, you saw everything I did." Merlin tried to block off and averted his eyes to the ground. Why did Arthur have to be so curious? Couldn't he just let the matter drop? And how did he know it was Merlin's doing the first place?

Arthur just snorted and tightened his grip around Merlin's wrist, getting impatient with the raven haired. "Come on, Merlin! I know you're hiding something."

"Why should I hide something from you?" Merlin mumbled, trying to free himself from Arthur's hold with no avail. "Arthur, it hurts a little, could you please let go…?"

"Sorry", the blonde said while removing his hand from the younger one's wrist. "But you know, Merlin, friends share their secrets."

Merlin felt a pang of guilt in his chest. Arthur was right, friends shared their secrets. But there was just no way he could tell Arthur about himself, it was strictly forbidden. Besides, Arthur probably wouldn't believe him and laugh at him. Merlin just remained silent while he rubbed his wrist.

"You don't have to tell me, Merlin. It's just that it would be nice if I could trust you completely."

Why must he say that? He didn't know a thing! Why must he make Merlin feel so bad? It wasn't Merlin's fault that he couldn't speak about this! This whole situation was just unfair! Why couldn't Arthur just be silent?! His words had hurt even if he probably didn't mean to. Merlin slowly looked up to his protégé, already feeling the tears prickle in his eyes. No, he wouldn't start crying in front of Arthur just because of that!

"You can trust me!" He exclaimed with a slightly shaking voice. "I'm sorry, b-but I can't tell you, you m-must understand that!"

Arthur was taken aback as he saw the wetness in his friend's eyes. He hadn't wanted to make Merlin cry! Maybe he had been a little too harsh. Merlin was a real friend and Arthur was sure he could trust him, may he be keeping secrets or not. He was sure that everyone had a secret, maybe even Gwen. Just what had come into him to act so stupid?! Hadn't he seen that Merlin didn't want to talk about it? But no, he just had to always make things worse.

"I'm sorry, Merlin. I know that I can trust you; I didn't want to push you into telling something you didn't want to…It's just…That I hate not knowing what is going on around me…Can you forgive me?" Arthur mumbled with the tiniest of a blush on his face.

Merlin felt his sorrows wash away as he heard those words leave Arthur's mouth. "Of course I can. That's what friends do, right?" He said with his usual bright grin on his face.

Arthur just chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "By the way, I'm also sorry for yelling at you earlier. I was just pissed because I couldn't have a real date with Gwen."

Now it was Merlin's turn to chuckle, it was a warm sound that made Arthur smile. "I already forgot about that with all that has happened today"

"Yeah, I almost got killed…" Arthur whispered, suddenly feeling very cold. That had been a terrible experience and he really thanked god that he was still sitting here with Merlin. "Could you imagine? Me just being…dead?" Arthur suddenly realized what it would have meant if that bullet had hit him.

A cold shiver ran down his spine and Arthur gripped the sheets they were sitting on until his knuckles turned white. "I wouldn't have been able to see anyone again…I would have just been gone, leaving everyone behind… Leaving while being in a fight with my father, Gwen and you… It would b-be lonely without me, r-right..?" Towards the end of the sentence, Arthur's voice broke a little and he coughed to hide it. Not wanting to meet Merlin's eyes, Arthur just stared out of the window. It was dark outside and the full moon was hidden behind a large cloud.

Suddenly, Arthur felt himself being pulled into a hug and he stiffened almost immediately. With big eyes, he looked at the raven haired who had slung his slender arms around the blonde's torso. His head was resting on Arthur's shoulder. "Terribly lonely" Came Merlin's slightly muffled voice.

With a small smile on his lips, Arthur slowly raised his arms and pulled them around the younger one. He couldn't remember the last time someone had embraced him like that. He felt so warm and secure…

After a few more seconds, Merlin pulled away and looked at Arthur with a grin on his face. Arthur felt a blush appearing on his face again and he quickly shuffled to the other edge of the bed as far away from the raven haired as he could.

"You know, I couldn't stand the thought of you dying." Merlin said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "What, you speechless?" He teased after not receiving an answer from the blonde.

"No, I just…err…umm…oh, shut up, Merlin."

That earned a soft chuckle from Merlin as he stood up and made his way over to the door of Arthur's room.

"Good night. Sleep well, you prat."

"Sleep well, you idiot. And thank you…"

"Huh? You're welcome…"

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A/N: I hope you liked it :) It was great fun to write the last part ;) Like always, reviews are greatly appreciated :D

The next chapter contains: Freya's first appearance and some splishy-splashy water fun ;)

Until next time and enjoy your summer~

by DarkChain