Sorry guys, I couldn't hold it in any longer. Maybe you aren't too sorry, but anyhow. I have written this story to its finish, so it actually has an ending unlike my other stories, yay. The next chapter inspired me to write a filthy, filthy mini-fic that you'll see later.

Chapter 12

The expression on Gwaine's face said it all. Merlin's mind started racing. He saw my eyes glow. He saw me use magic. Lancelot had a worried look on his face. Gwaine glanced at him, then stared at Merlin again. Merlin tried to think of some plausible lies he could tell the man, but he couldn't come up with anything. He had been caught red-handed (literally, as he had Oliver's blood in them). He settled to wait for Gwaine's reaction. Minutes passed, and finally it was too much for Merlin to bear. He opened his mouth to speak, but Gwaine got to it first. "You light the fire while I pile the wood in place", he said to Lancelot. He started piling the branches and sticks on top of each other to form a square. He then proceeded to cut up some tree bark and placed the pieces in the middle of the square. Lancelot, aware of the awfulness of the situation, stayed quiet and lit the fire. Soon Arthur and Percival arrived with water and Merlin feigned to cook up a potion to somehow help Oliver. Arthur nearly ruined everything by examining Oliver's neck himself. "She doesn't look like she's dying or even hurt. Where was the wound again?"

Merlin felt guilty and glanced at Gwaine, who remained silent. Lancelot saved him. "Merlin examined her and it turns out it wasn't as serious as we thought. Most of the blood is from her nose which she hit accidentally while attempting the act."

Arthur looked at Gwaine as if for verification. The man returned his gaze and shrugged. Arthur took that as a 'sure' and moved on to other things, but Merlin wasn't sure if Gwaine had intentionally protected him or was simply waiting for a better moment to out him.

Merlin started thinking about what the fact that Gwaine knew about him now would mean. If Gwaine told Arthur about him, he'd be finished. Done. He could never go back to serving Arthur, and therefore not protect him when he needed it. Additionally, he'd probably be put to death, but that was an issue of a personal, not cosmic importance. Speaking of personal issues, isn't the biggest consequence here the fact that he won't care for you like he used to? A small voice inside Merlin whispered. He winced: he hadn't wanted to think that far ahead.

He had known Gwaine would find out some day, but he had kept on hoping that, once gifted with the information, the man would simply laugh it off. This silent treatment scared him. He had no idea what the man was thinking. He felt sick and he wanted to throw up. He was going through all kinds of different scenarios in his head, all involving Gwaine telling Arthur his secret and ruining him.

"Serious or not, we should get her to a tavern or something similar. It's going to rain soon."

After Lancelot's initial seize of power at Oliver's time of need, Arthur had resumed leadership and was the one giving orders again.

As they rode on, Merlin tried to talk to Gwaine, but the man only gave short replies and ignored any attempts to bring up what had happened earlier. Merlin felt worse than he had ever felt before. He looked at the man riding next to him. I knew you would hate me, but I didn't know you would despise me as well.

They made their way to a small nearby village. They spent the night there. In the morning, Oliver awoke. She pretended to still be asleep and stretched her arms and legs to see if they were still functioning. She didn't know why she wasn't dead, but that didn't matter: she would need to find a way to get out of Lancelot's reach.

While the others stayed to watch over Oliver, Gwaine told them he'd find them something to eat. After a moment's hesitation, Merlin ran after him.

"Wait."

"I can get food by myself. It's a very ordinary task." It was obvious to what he referred when Gwaine used the word 'ordinary. He was acting distant and the cold tone of his voice hurt Merlin's feelings.

"I know what you are thinking, but-" Merlin tried, but Gwaine cut him off.

"Really? Then please tell me, because I sure as hell don't."

Arthur had felt he needed to stretch his legs a bit after riding, so he had followed Gwaine and Merlin to accompany them on their search for food. Once he saw them, he noticed that something was wrong between those two. They weren't yelling at each other, but something was definitely off. Then, out of nowhere, Arthur saw Merlin actually take a swing at Gwaine, which was already odd enough on its own, but what followed baffled him even further: Gwaine cowered away from him. Merlin seemed equally confused. Gwaine got up and seemed about to say something, but Merlin just left him there and ran off. Arthur walked up to Gwaine. "What was that about?"

Gwaine shrugged and they started walking.

"Gwaine, I'm serious. If there is a problem among my people, I want to know."

"My personal problems with Merlin don't concern you."

"Fine, be that way. But Gwaine.." Arthur started, and Gwaine turned to look at him.

"Don't ever let me see you cringe in hear in front of someone as small as Merlin again." Arthur tried antagonizing him into telling him his problem, but to no avail. Gwaine opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again.

Arthur grew annoyed with the man because whenever he tried to question him on his and Merlin's row, the man closed up completely. Finally he left the man alone and decided to try his luck with Merlin, who no doubt would prove to be more talkative. Of course, him making Merlin talk required actually finding him first, and that proved somewhat difficult despite the small size of the village.

Arthur gave up after a while and returned to the inn. Gwaine returned as well, carrying enough food to last them a week. They started eating. Oliver was still sleeping off the effects of Merlin's healing and the condition that had required his help to begin with, or so they thought. Merlin returned soon after they had started eating and hungrily joined them. Immediately after he walked into the room, the atmosphere of the room changed. Even though Gwaine and Merlin didn't even look at each other, all of them (with the exception of Oliver of course), including Percival could feel that something was wrong. Lancelot and Arthur looked at each other, then pretended to look interested in their meals.

Little did they know that Oliver was wide awake and busy preparing for her great escape. As something seemed to be up with Gwaine and Merlin which distracted the others as well, she sincerely thanked the duo mentally for their help. She suddenly leaped through the window, landing on the inn's roof. She started running, which hurt as she was bare-footed, but she didn't care. She hurd a crack behind her and turned to see Lancelot follow her. She reached the edge of the roof. Nowhere to go but down.

"Don't!" Lancelot shouted. "You will only hurt yourself."

"That's kind of the point, isn't it?" Oliver mock-saluted him in goodbye and jumped.

Lancelot ran to the edge. He saw that Oliver had grabbed the hooks that were used by merchants to set up their carts and was quickly making her way down the wall.

Oliver ran. Just when she thought she might have pulled it off this time, she ran into Lancelot who had by some miracle appeared in front of her. She was frustrated and out of breath. Lancelot was also breathing heavily. Oliver had reached her limit: no more trying to escape the polite way. She formed a fist and punched Lancelot in his jaw. "Let me go!"

The impact of the blow forced Lancelot to turn his head to his side, but he quickly recovered and took a step towards Oliver. "I can't do that."

Oliver got ready to try again, but Lancelot grabbed her arm. Oliver tried to kick him, but Lancelot shook her to make her lose her balance and she fell to the ground. She covered her face with her hands. "I died. Not even death is enough to make me escape my fate."

Lancelot quickly grew annoyed with her defeated attitude. It didn't become Oliver. "Women have married awful husbands since forever. Don't think you are the first."

"I'm not. I'm just saying I won't become one of them." Oliver threw her legs behind his, tackling him to the ground. She was about to sprint behind the one of the houses of the village when Lancelot grabbed her by her neck. "Fine, choke me. See if I care", Oliver hissed through her clenched teeth.

"Do you get off on pain or am I just an exception?" Lancelot asked rhetorically. Oliver scowled at him and Lancelot dragged her back to the inn. The others watched him with uneasy expressions as he tied Oliver to the bed. "And stay there!"

"Why am I not dead? What did you do to me?" Oliver had a wild look in her eyes. Her questions would put Merlin in a difficult position as they would contradict the lie Lancelot had fabricated to cover for him.

"You hit your nose, genius, and Merlin patched you up. Quit being a drama queen", Lancelot hurried to his rescue as Arthur started looking suspicious again.

Unfortunately for him, Oliver wasn't fooled that easily. "I did no such thing and you know it. Now tell me what you did!"

"Calm down", Percival begged her. Oliver muttered something under her breath but then settled down. Merlin nearly cried of relief.

The group resumed eating and Gwaine quietly filled up a plate for Oliver as well. Even though Oliver's attempt to escape had brought a welcome change in the atmosphere, the foul ambiance returned with a vengeance and Oliver could tell Merlin and Gwaine were at the center of it. Apparently she had missed more than she had initially thought.

Once they had finished, Merlin excused himself under the pretense of running some errand for Arthur. As Merlin vanished through the door, Lancelot blinked, then told the others he'd go out too.

Merlin had moved quickly. Lancelot had to run to catch up to him, but suddenly Merlin stopped and sat under a tree. Lancelot followed him and sat next to him, giving the boy a little bit of space between them. Merlin hugged his knees.

"Merlin."

That was all that was needed. It seemed as if a wall had been broken inside him and the boy started crying. "He's afraid of me. Me!" He buried his face in his hands and started sobbing.

Lancelot didn't know what to do. He awkwardly tapped Merlin's shoulder as the boy sniveled and wiped away his tears. "He is just overwhelmed. Give him time."

"You were fine with it", Merlin pointed out.

"I wasn't sleeping with you."

"How is that a factor?"

"Well, if I found out that the woman I loved was more powerful than me, it would change things."

"Lancelot, you are too conservative", Merlin laughed and then sneezed. "Good for Oliver then, if she isn't better than you with a sword, right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lancelot looked appalled and Merlin chuckled.

"Right.."

"Anyway, think about it. Up until now, he's thought of you as a scrawny guy who gets pushed around by those bigger than him. Suddenly, he gets the information that you have the power to hurt or possibly even kill without even touching people. Like I said, it can be a bit overwhelming."

Merlin seemed unconvinced and Lancelot grinned. "Merlin, you are so used to keeping secrets that you don't remember how to share those secrets with the people that love you. He likes you, he expects to know these types of things about you."

Merlin thought for a moment. "Well, he refuses to talk to me so there's nothing I can do for him right now."

"Like I said: give him time." It was starting to rain again, so they returned to the inn.

Meanwhile, Arthur struck up a conversation with Percival, or at least tried to, as the man was acting like a mute. What is it with everyone today? Arthur thought.

They spoke quietly so Oliver wouldn't hear them. Arthur went first. "Is the man Oliver is expected to marry really that awful?"

"He is the son of a king", Percival declared as if to give the official answer. Then, using a more relaxed tone of voice, he added: "but if I were Oliver, I'd kill myself too before marrying him. He is positively dreadful."

"But you think we should take her back regardless?"

"Yes." Percival offered no explanations or excuses. Orders were orders. Arthur respected that, but had a feeling he would one day come to regret the same attitude.

Arthur shook his head and turned to look at Gwaine. "Do you think we should take her back?"

"No." Gwaine had hardly spoken since his brawl with Merlin. Arthur sighed. I should just stop trying.

Merlin and Lancelot returned a while later. If possible, Merlin looked more awful than before. He sat on the opposite side of the room, as far away from Gwaine as possible. Lancelot still looked worried for him and he kept looking from Gwaine to Merlin and then back again. Percival pretended that he wasn't even there with them. Gwaine stared at the floor with an indecipherable expression on his face. The atmosphere could not have been worse.

Finally, Arthur had had enough. "Lancelot, Percival, look after Oliver. You two are coming with me." He motioned Gwaine and Merlin to follow him. They obeyed him, as he looked at them as if he would be prepared to hurt them if they didn't.

Arthur lead them to a peaceful location and then told them to stop. He didn't care if it rained and the two would get pneumonia, anything was better than this. "I don't know what is wrong with you two, and quite frankly I don't care. Everyone can see that something's wrong. Until you've settled this thing between you, I don't want to see either one of you. I'll be back at the inn in case you decide to man up and make up", he retorted and left them there.

Merlin crossed his hands behind his back and glanced at Gwaine nervously. Gwaine was staring in Arthur's direction, his back to Merlin. Merlin was still afraid of him and what he might do. Usually when he was feeling sad and alone, he turned to Gwaine. Would it still work if the man was the cause of those feelings?

He had to try. He wrapped his arms around Gwaine's body from behind. "Just please, talk to me." He hadn't realized how cold he had felt until he pressed against the man's warm body. He rested his head on Gwaine's back and revelled in the moment. His brief moment of happiness was interrupted when Gwaine grabbed his left arm and broke his hold on him. While still holding onto Merlin's arm, he positioned the boy to face him and then let go. Merlin covered his face with his hands. He felt like crying again.

"Don't", Gwaine told him, having guessed what he was about to do. "I never wanted to be the cause of your unhappiness."

"You don't know how scared I have been." Merlin uttered the words like they were his final words before his execution. The rain stopped. Maybe it's a good sign. He still had some hope of reconciliation.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"How could I after you told me that you would never truly trust a sorcerer because they are not reliable in your opinion?"

"And you think keeping this a secret from me would somehow improve my view?" Gwaine retorted and Merlin's face fell. He looked like he had been stabbed with a knife. Gwaine cursed himself for having caused this situation. "Agh. I didn't mean that. Just.."

Merlin looked at him, praying that the man would just take him into his arms and make him forget about the past few days. Gwaine seemed to be trying to gather his thoughts. "Merlin, I don't have a problem with magic. But. I have absolutely no idea what to think. I understand. Kind of. You kept this from me because you wanted to protect yourself. You weren't laughing at me behind my back. I know that, too. I just..I don't understand."

"Why would I laugh behind your back?" Merlin asked incredulously.

"Because apparently I didn't make the cut to your 'secret club'."

"It's not exactly something I tell everyone."

"Just Lancelot, then?" Merlin's face went white, but he strived to stay calm. Gwaine continued. "I saw his face when we saw you do your thing. He wasn't even fazed by it."

"I didn't tell him. He guessed."

"Well, that I will believe, considering he sees everything about everyone. But Merlin, what bothers me the most.." Gwaine brought his face close to his, close enough for them to kiss. He looked more vulnerable than Merlin had ever seen him. Merlin wasn't used to seeing him like that and he instinctively raised his hand on his cheek to comfort him. "What?" He whispered, preparing to sink into a kiss with the man he had so desperately missed. Gwaine returned his gaze and looked as if his heart was about to be broken.

"Which one are you more scared of: me leaving you, or me telling Arthur?"