*AUTHORS NOTE* I'm really sorry about the lateness of this chapter (again), this time I had a rather bad attack of writer's block (think of it as idea constipation) I hope y'all forgive me
"Do you think Arthur will come back?" Gwen asked as she fastened the back of Morgana's dress.
"I don't know, Gwen." Morgana sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."
"I understand, Arthur must be like a brother to you."
"He is, and I'd hate it if anything happened to him"
"I'm sure they'll return soon." Gwen stepped back. "There you go, my lady."
"Thank you, Gwen" Morgana looked out the window and saw another search party of knights leaving. A nervous knot formed in her stomach; what if her dream was true? What if Arthur really was dead? She knew it would destroy Uther to lose his only son, but she hated the man. A smile formed on her face which she quickly wiped off before Gwen saw. She turned to her servant, who was busying herself making her bed and sighed. "Gwen, you can go, take a day off, you deserve it."
Gwen looked up and smiled. "Thank you, my lady." She curtseyed and quickly left the room.
"Arthur?" Merlin stood by Arthur's bed, gently holding his hand in his own and listening to the steady beep of his heart monitor.
Arthur's eyes fluttered open and took a while to focus. Once they did, a smile appeared on his face. "Merlin"
"Arthur, you're looking better"
"Have they hurt you? Are you okay?"
Merlin snorted. "Me? You're the one lying there with all these bandages!"
"Well, I suppose I have to look after my servants" he smiled. "I missed you."
"I missed you too" Merlin gave Arthur's hand an affectionate squeeze.
"Where have you been? Who's Torchwood?"
"I don't really know. They've been helping me; they're going to help us get home. Once you hurry up and recover, and they hurry up and find a way to get us back." He paused. "Oh, sorry, shouldn't have said that"
"You mean we're stuck here?" Arthur sat up and grimaced in pain.
"No, well, yes. Oh just lie down!"
Reluctantly, Arthur lay down and sighed. "So we're trapped here, in this place, miles away from anywhere we know."
"Pretty much. But it's OK, we have help"
As if on que, Ianto and Jack came through the door. "Merlin how is he?" Ianto walked over and stood by him. He smiled at Arthur. "Hello, good to see you're okay."
"Who are you? Who are they, Merlin?"
"Oh, sorry. This is Ianto, and this is Jack"
"Hello" Jack smiled. "How are you feeling?"
"Sore. And a little headachy"
"Good, good. The nurses have deemed you safe enough to be discharged. Can you stand or do I have to carry you?"
Merlin snorted again. "He isn't kidding either."
A doctor poked her head round the door and smiled. "Hello, I'm here to sort Arthur out for discharging." She came into the room and expertly began disconnecting the heart monitor. It gave a loud, protesting beep. "Oh, shut up!" she hit the power button and shut the machine up. Once Arthur was all disconnected, she turned to Jack. "I have a prescription here; you can pick the drugs up at the pharmacy on the way out. I've prescribed him codamol, to be taken twice a day for two weeks, Penicillin to keep infection at bay, to be taken four times a day." She handed Jack the green slip with a pleasant smile. "You're free to go whenever you're ready." She left the room and Jack stared after her. "She reminded me so much of Martha." He mused aloud, before snapping back to reality. "We ready to go?"
Merlin looked at Arthur. "Are you ready? Want some help getting up?" He threaded his arm under Arthur's and across his back and heaved him to his feet. Arthur stumbled forwards a few paces and used Merlin to steady himself. He looked down at the hospital gown and a red blush crept into his cheeks.
"Merlin, why am I wearing a dress?"
"Don't look at me; I didn't put it on you!" Merlin exclaimed. Jack snorted and earned a steely glare from Arthur.
"I have your clothes" Ianto handed Arthur his clothes, neatly folded. Arthur gratefully took them and pulled on the trousers, slid the gown over his head and replaced it with the tunic.
"Where is my armour? And my sword!"
"We have your armour back at the hub. Are you ready to go?" Jack walked to the door and leant against the frame. Ianto and Merlin supported Arthur to the door. "Ianto, you go and collect this; I'll take them to the car. Tell them it's important and you're from Torchwood."
"I know, Jack. Standard procedure. I know what you're like in queues." He left and the three others made their way out and into the car park.
The search party thundered through the forest, following the same route Arthur had done three weeks before. Before long, they approached the clearing near The Rift's opening. The horses' ears all went flat against their heads, and they jostled and whinnied, sensing the danger in the energy it sent out. The lead man slid off his horse and patted it's neck to calm it down before slowly approaching the low den-like opening, sword drawn. The Rift's silver glow was visible and it pulsed, sending out waves of energy, and just as it had done with Arthur, it began to pull him closer. The leader let out a yelp of terror and moved backwards and out of range. He picked up a rock from the leafy ground and threw it towards the cave. It landed short, but slowly rolled towards it and eventually it got sucked in and disappeared in a white flash. "What the…" The Leader approached it again, and something on the ground caught his eye. With a jolt of realisation, he recognised it at Arthur's sword. It was unmistakeable. He quickly picked it up and moved back. He turned towards the rest of the group, who were sitting on their horses, a look of worry and fear on their faces. He made his way back to his horse and mounted it. He nodded and turned his horse back and set off at a gallop towards Camelot, the rest of the group in tow.
"You're sure it was sorcery?" Uther sat, cradling Arthur's sword in his hands.
"I'm sure. We all saw it. I nearly perished at its hands." The leader of the group nodded to Uther and looked up at him with fearful eyes. The rest of the search party behind him nodded in agreement.
Uther shifted his position and sighed. "I want this sorcerer found, and executed as soon as possible. You may leave, and begin the search."
The leader nodded and the search party shifted and turned to leave, low murmurs of conversation starting up between them on their way out. Gaius' stomach was twisting and untwisting itself into tight, unsettling knots as he followed, and the rest of the royal court following him as he left the room through the huge oak doors.
"Honestly, Arthur! Keep still!" Merlin sat in the back of the SUV, clinging onto Arthur's arm as Jack drove back towards base. Arthur squirmed in the seat, eyes wide with fear and wonder. In good timing, Jack pulled into the bay and stopped the car. He got out and Ianto swapped places with him to go and park up.
Jack smiled at Merlin and Arthur. "Ready? Come on." He walked over to the 'invisible lift' and waited for them to step onto the small block of concrete alongside him. His hand went to his ear, where he had a comm. Snapped on. "Tosh, be an angel and let us in, it's freezing out here!" To Arthur's utter bewilderment, the block slowly began lowering them into the cavernous hub. Mafanwy swooped overhead with a loud screech, prompting Arthur to duck as her wing scythed through the air above his head in a whistling whoosh.
Arthur leapt off the block as the lift approached the floor and stood, looking around the hub with eyes wide with fear and apprehension. "What…Where am I? What was that?"
"That was Mafanwy, and this is Torchwood" Jack swept his hand as if he were presenting a great monument and smiled. "Bit bewildering, I know, but you'll get used to it." He ushered them towards the medical centre, where Owen was busily working with something in a kidney dish. "Owen, I have something for you."
Owen turned round and leant against the worktop. "Hello, Jack." His eyes scanned Arthur up and down. "I'm guessing this is the famous Arthur?" Merlin blushed a pale shade of pink. Owen noticed ad winked at him.
"Owen, stop it, you're embarrassing him!" Jack ushered Arthur over to the medical bench. "Owen will check you over, general practice." He smiled. "I'll get Ianto to get a tea going for you; you look like you could use one." He turned and left the area, Merlin, still standing by the steps looked at Arthur and smiled.
"Right, let's get this over and done with." Owen snapped on a clean pair of surgical gloves and prepared a syringe ready for a blood test. "I'm guessing you're human, judging by the fact that the hospital treated you, but we have to be sure."
"What are you babbling on about? Of course I'm human, what else would I be? Do I look like a bloody monster to you?"
"Arthur, trust him, okay?" Merlin moved over and squeezed his hand. Owen saw, but didn't comment. He took Arthur's arm and quickly injected the needle.
"Ouch! What are you doing? Get off! This is an outrage! When my father finds out about this, he'll-"
"Arthur! For God's sake calm down! It's okay! He's going to run some tests." He squeezed his hand again and looked into his eyes.
Owen took the needle out and applied a plaster. "There. That wasn't too bad now, was it?" Owen took the syringe and lay it on the counter. He came back with a roll of bandage and some antiseptic cotton swabs and moved round the back. "I'm going to take this dressing off and get a look at that cut." Gently, Owen removed the bandage and checked over the deep wound, which had been expertly sutured. Quickly, he cleaned it off with the swabs, making Arthur flinch, but not comment. He then replaced the dressing with the fresh bandage. "There, all done."
Arthur stood up and stumbled a few paces, caught by Merlin and then Owen. He groaned and shuddered. "Merlin, I don't feel well." His voice was quiet and strained, and suddenly, he went limp.
Merlin looked up at Owen. "Owen, what's wrong with him? What do we do?"